4/41 by Timm van der Gugten was the pick of a fine bowling performance as Glamorgan dismissed Derbyshire for 110 after opting to bowl first in overcast and muggy conditions at Derby before racing to their target for the loss of two wickets with Kiran Carlson making 54*as the Welsh county completed a handsome start to their defence of their Royal London title.
After the start had been delayed by rain until 1110, and the contest reduced to 49 overs per side, the Welsh county announced an unchanged line-up with the same team that defeated Wales National Counties on Sunday at Sophia Gardens in action again, with Jamie McIlroy and Timm van der Gugten opening the bowling after Kiran Carlson opted to bowl first in the dank and sultry conditions.
The bowlers vindicated the decision as van der Gugten removed Billy Godleman who spliced a drive to mid-on to the Dutchman’s fourth delivery before Luis Reece feathered a catch to Chris Cooke as McIlroy, who swung the ball in the conditions, found the outside edge of the opener’s bat. 4/2 then became 6/3 as Harry Came departed next over l.b.w. to van der Gugten. Tom Wood then square-drove the Dutchman to register the day’s first boundary before adding a second next over by on-driving van der Gugten before under-edging an attempted drive to the ropes at fine-leg.
With the total on 29 Wood departed as he scythed a ball from van der Gugten with Cooke completing an acrobatic catch diving high to his right in front of the slip cordon. Drizzle then started to fall before intensifying and briefly forcing the players off the field with Derbyshire on 31-4 from 10.1 overs. A further two overs were lost from the Derbyshire innings as it became a 47 overs contest, but the wickets continued to tumble as Brooke Guest immediately chipped a slower ball from McIlroy straight back to the bowler.
Chris Cooke had also departed the field with a reoccurrence of his calf strain as Colin Ingram took over behind the stumps as Anuj Dal drove van der Gugten through the covers for four before Mattie McKiernan clipped Joe Cooke’s first ball to the ropes at square-leg followed by a pull for four against David Lloyd. Dal also square-cut Lloyd for four but next over he slapped a short ball from Cooke to extra-cover where Kiran Carlson jumped up to complete the catch. 61-6 then became 62-7 as Lloyd bowled Mark Watt before Ben Aitchison clipped the bowler for four over mid-wicket before doing the same to Cooke.
Aitchison hoisted Lloyd to fine-leg when Joe Cooke completed the catch as Derbyshire slipped further to 80-8. With Sam Conners as his next partner, McKiernan pulled Dan Douthwaite for four before twice edging van der Gugten for four with the second just out of the reach of Ingram’s gloves as Derbyshire went past their lowest List A total against Glamorgan - 96 in the Sunday League contest at Ebbw Vale in 1969. McKiernan then square-drove van der Gugten for four before the rains returned with Derbyshire on 108-8 after 28 overs.
It was only a brief stoppage with no further overs lost but two balls after the resumption McKiernan drove Douthwaite into the hands of Tom Bevan, the substitute fielder at extra-cover before two runs later van der Gugten claimed his fourth wicket as Conners edged him into Ingram’s gloves and ended the Derbyshire innings on 110.
After the DLS calculations were performed, Glamorgan’s target was 110 and Lloyd began by clipping Connors to fine-leg for four. Northeast opened his account by punching Conners through extra-cover for four before Lloyd pulled Aitchison for four to long-leg. But next ball, Lloyd got a leading edge to another drive and was caught at backward point by Anuj Dal. 18-1 saw Ingram join Northeast who punched Conners for four through backward point. However, with the total on 28 Northeast edged the bowler to Wood at second slip. Kiran Carlson announced his arrival by square-driving Reece for four before Ingram regally drilled the all-rounder over extra-cover for another boundary. The southpaw then cover drove Nick Potts’ opening delivery for four before Carlson inside-edged a drive against the youngster to the ropes at long-leg.
Ingram then fiercely drilled Reece for four through the covers before Carlson square-drove Reece for another boundary followed by a glorious off-drive against Potts to bring up the 50-stand. Carlson celebrated by biffing Potts through backward square for a pair of boundaries before unfurling another pair of sumptuous cover drives for four in successive deliveries from Reece. Later in the over Carlson harpooned Reece for a huge six over fine-leg to complete a 51-ball fifty before next over Ingram pulled Potts for six to see Glamorgan to their target with their comprehensive victory in the 22nd over giving an early boost to their net run rate.