Glamorgan win One Day Cup final as captain Carlson shows his class with the bat
Glamorgan have been crowned Royal London One Day Cup champions after beating Durham by 58 runs in the final at Trent Bridge, with captain Kiran Carlson leading the way with the bat.
The One Day Cup has found itself relegated to a so-called 'development competition' by the ECB this year, with the tournament running concurrently to The Hundred and the final getting played on a weekday instead of a weekend.
However, that did not diminish the importance of the final to those involved, with Durham captain Scott Borthwick saying ahead of the game: "Every team has taken it seriously and playing in it feels important.
"I'm sorry it's not at Lord's, it's like an FA Cup final not being at Wembley, but having said that Trent Bridge is a fantastic ground and to captain the side in a final is a great honour."
Having won the toss and chosen to bowl, Durham removed the dangerous New Zealand opener Hamish Rutherford early and continued to pick up wickets at pretty regular intervals.
Apart from Billy Root, every Glamorgan batter managed to reach double figures, but it was only Carlson who was able to pass 50.
The 23-year-old has been in good form in the competition and he played a match-winning innings for his side, scoring 82 off 59 balls.
Although he ultimately fell short of three figures, Carlson's innings was largely responsible for Glamorgan's total of 296-9, with the skipper getting support from Nick Selman (36) up front and the lower order scoring some important late runs.
With the ball, veteran seamer Chris Rushworth was economical up front for Durham, while Matty Potts and Ben Raine, both returning from The Hundred, each picked up three wickets.
With a target of 297 to chase down, Durham were confident in their chances of winning, especially given the form of their top order.
Durham's openers, Graham Clark and Alex Lees, finished the competition as the two leading run-scorers, with Clark making 646 runs at an average of 80.75 and Lees making 562 runs at an average of 70.25.
And the pair started the final strongly, putting on a 47-run partnership before the introduction of spinner Andrew Salter.
In his first over, Salter bowled Lees with an absolute beauty and he then got Clark caught in the deep four overs later.
Borthwick and David Bedingham were also dismissed in quick succession, with James Weighell claiming the wicket of Borthwick and Salter getting Bedingham to finish with figures of 3-42.
With Durham now 74-4, Glamorgan were well on top, but Australian overseas star Cameron Bancroft and Sean Dickson were able to keep their side in the game with an important partnership.
The pair both passed 50 and shared an 85-run partnership before Bancroft was caught on the boundary by substitute fielder Andy Gorvin.
It was a key wicket for Glamorgan and, despite the best efforts of Dickson (84 not out), Durham fell short in their chase, with Glamorgan running through the lower order.
40-year-old bowler Michael Hogan took the winning wicket, getting Rushworth caught behind for a first ball duck.
It was Glamorgan's first trophy win since 2004, when they won the old 45-over competition and it was just rewards for a county that lost just two games in the whole tournament.
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