Hashim Amla's 181 on debut saves Essex
Hashim Amla saves Essex with a century on his debut
Chelmsford (final day of four): Essex (7pts) drew with Glamorgan (12) Pat Gibson
Essex have had some great overseas batsmen over the years, Ken McEwan, Allan Border and Mark Waugh among them, and Hashim Amla, the cricketer with the longest beard since WG Grace, looked as though he will maintain the tradition as he stroked a match-saving 181 on his county debut.
The home side still needed 182 to avoid an ignominious innings defeat when they began the final day on 133 for four, but Amla shared partnerships of 142 with James Foster and 153 with Ryan ten Doeschate to deny Glamorgan their first championship victory of the season.
Amla, the South Africa batsman playing his first first-class match since the third Test against Australia at Cape Town in March, had made only four in the first innings but showed the Essex faithful what a good player he is once he found his feet in the second.
The outcome might have been different if Gareth Rees had held a low catch at short leg off Robert Croft’s first ball of the day when Amla had made 78, but once that had gone down there was never much doubt that they were going to pay a heavy price. Amla had been batting for almost seven hours, faced 327 balls and hit 26 fours by the time Croft gained some belated compensation by having him leg-before as he swung across the line. Soon afterwards the teams shook hands on a draw with Essex 96 runs ahead with 15 overs left.
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Foster, England’s best wicketkeeper and Essex’s most consistent batsman this season, had made 64 when he was bowled by Jamie Dalrymple, while Ten Doeschate shrugged off several stinging blows to the fingers from the Glamorgan seam bowlers to make an unbeaten 68, his highest score of the summer.
Glamorgan: First Innings 515 for 9 dec (M J Powell 102, J A R Harris 76 not out, G P Rees 59, H H Gibbs 53, J W M Dalrymple 50)
Essex: First Innings 200 (A J Shantry 5 for 62)
Second Innings (overnight 133-4)
H M Amla lbw b Croft 181
J S Foster b Dalrymple 64
R N ten Doeschate not out 88
G R Napier not out 10
Extras (b 4, lb 6, nb 6) 16
Total (6 wkts, 127 overs) 410
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-17, 3-55, 4-84, 5-226, 6-379.
Bowling: Harris 23-8-58-1; Harrison 19-2-64-2; Shantry 17-6-56-0; Croft 41-4-106-2; Kruger 14-2-64-0; Dalrymple 13-0-52-1.
Umpires: J H Evans and D J Millns.
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. Kidding. He is quiet a good batsman. Attractive stroke player. I have been his admirer since he made his debut.
........... But a heartening scene that must have been
