Heavy overnight rain did its best to get this Friends Provident Trophy one-day match abandoned before a ball was bowled; but hours of sterling work from the ground staff, some bright sunshine and a choir of chirping birds convinced umpires Nick Cook and Ian Gould that New Road was fit for use.
It proved the right decision as far as the home side were concerned as they secured the victory that lifts them off the bottom of the South/West Division, thanks to a fine innings from Vikram Solanki.
There was never any doubt about the suitability of the wicket; it was the saturated outfield that was causing the problem but after some minor alterations were made to the distance between the boundary rope and the wicket, a change unlikely to have pleased the returning Simon Jones or any of the bowlers on show, a shortened game of 28 overs per side went ahead unhampered.
Solanki's match-winning innings of 88 was a mix of brilliant-stroke making and belligerent, dismissive hitting, especially on anything over-pitched from either of Glamorgan's grossly ineffectual spinners.
He was dropped on 46 by Alex Wharf, a difficult dipping chance at long off, but apart from that, the captain's display was near-perfect in terms of timing both in his shot-making and in getting his side over the line, which he managed with nine balls to spare.
Along with Ben Smith, whose slog-sweep yielded great rewards despite well-protected square boundaries, he put on 90 for the third wicket before a helpful effort from Stephen Moore helped Worcestershire home for their first one-day win of the season.
Solanki (88 balls, two fours, five sixes) preferred to hit his boundaries down the ground and found runs very easy to come by off Jamie Dalrymple and Dean Cosker. Whenever the run-rate dipped even slightly the Worcestershire captain would simply lift one of them into the stands to ease the pressure.
And this was not a Glamorgan side low on confidence. They had the opportunity to go top of the table after a valuable victory against Somerset on Sunday and they were on the back of a win against Gloucestershire in the County Championship last week.
Their buoyant mood was instantly evident in the batting of David Hemp. The former Warwickshire batsman and Glamorgan captain looked in fine fettle, as one might expect from a classy player who is on a run of four consecutive half-centuries.
He was hardly the sort of player that the returning Jones would have wanted to bowl to in his comeback. Not surprisingly, given his lack of cricket, the Welshman looked short of form and rhythm against his former club, but he did show ample willingness and an acute competitive edge as he went about his business with bullish, bulldog-like tenacity.
Matthew Wood was first to go, chipping one to Moeen Ali at cover after being beaten in the flight by Gareth Batty.
Michael Powell fell in the next over, bowled leg-stump by the brisk medium pace of Gareth Andrew, after he ill-advisedly tried to punch the ball through mid-wicket.
Enter Tom Maynard (48 off 28 balls, three fours, three sixes), the 19-year-old son of former England assistant coach and Glamorgan stalwart Matthew, who was the pick of the visitors' top order and integral to the sharp increase in the Welsh side's run rate. He displayed some fine hitting, the pick being a lofted back-foot extra-cover drive for six off Australian Steve Magoffin, who was once again the pick of some unspectacular Worcestershire bowling thus far in this competition.
Maynard fell to Jones, holing out at mid-off after putting on 50 with Dalrymple, whose own unbeaten innings was full of invention and imagination, the direct opposite to his bowling.
Young Worcestershire academy prospect Mehraj Ahmed, who played in the Birmingham League for Barnt Green on Saturday, endured a torrid introduction to first-class cricket until he got rid of Hemp, whom he bowled through the gate with an in-swinger. That was a much-needed confidence boost for the teenager who was going for more than 11 per over.
At the ten-minute tea break, 185 for four seemed a decent total but Worcestershire, at one stage needing nine an over, remained positive in the chase. Steven Davies, dropped by Jason Gillespie off David Harrison on five, failed to take advantage of his good fortune. He mistimed a pull off the same bowler into the arms of Ben Wright, who had ample time to run around to mid-wicket from square leg to gather.
Moeen Ali, in desperate need of some runs, went in the next over. After crashing former England seamer Alex Wharf through the covers from his first delivery, he wastefully drove a half-volley into the arms of Wright at cover point.
That was about the time Solanki found his stride and, apart from when Smith was bowled by Wharf trying to flick one to the leg-side boundary that had proved profitable throughout the course of his innings, the captain never lost it. In fact, he won it.
from that, the captain's display was near-perfect in terms of timing both in his shot-making and in getting his side over the line, which he managed with nine balls to spare.
Along with Ben Smith, whose slog-sweep Solanki (88 balls, two fours, five sixes) preferred to hit his boundaries down the ground and found runs very easy to come by off Jamie Dalrymple and Dean Cosker. Whenever the run-rate dipped even slightly the Worcestershire captain would simply lift one of them into the stands to ease the pressure.
And this was not a Glamorgan side low on confidence. They had the opportunity to go top of the table after a valuable victory against Somerset on Sunday and they were on the back of a win against Gloucestershire in the County Championship last week.
Their buoyant mood was instantly evident in the batting of David Hemp. The former Warwickshire batsman and Glamorgan captain looked in fine fettle, as one might expect from a classy player who is on a run of four consecutive half-centuries.
He was hardly the sort of player that the returning Jones would have wanted to bowl to in his comeback. Not surprisingly, given his lack of cricket, the Welshman looked short of form and rhythm against his former club, but he did show ample willingness and an acute competitive edge as he went about his business with bullish, bulldog-like tenacity.
Matthew Wood was first to go, chipping one to Moeen Ali at cover after being beaten in the flight by Gareth Batty.
Michael Powell fell in the next over, bowled leg-stump by the brisk medium pace of Gareth Andrew, after he ill-advisedly tried to punch the ball through mid-wicket.
Enter Tom Maynard (48 off 28 balls, three fours, three sixes), the 19-year-old son of former England assistant coach and Glamorgan stalwart Matthew, who was the pick of the visitors' top order and integral to the sharp increase in the Welsh side's run rate. He displayed some fine hitting, the pick being a lofted back-foot extra-cover drive for six off Australian Steve Magoffin, who was once again the pick of some unspectacular Worcestershire bowling thus far in this competition.
Maynard fell to Jones, holing out at mid-off after putting on 50 with Dalrymple, whose own unbeaten innings was full of invention and imagination, the direct opposite to his bowling.
Young Worcestershire academy prospect Mehraj Ahmed, who played in the Birmingham League for Barnt Green on Saturday, endured a torrid introduction to first-class cricket until he got rid of Hemp, whom he bowled through the gate with an in-swinger. That was a much-needed confidence boost for the teenager who was going for more than 11 per over.
At the ten-minute tea break, 185 for four seemed a decent total but Worcestershire, at one stage needing nine an over, remained positive in the chase. Steven Davies, dropped by Jason Gillespie off David Harrison on five, failed to take advantage of his good fortune. He mistimed a pull off the same bowler into the arms of Ben Wright, who had ample time to run around to mid-wicket from square leg to gather.
Moeen Ali, in desperate need of some runs, went in the next over. After crashing former England seamer Alex Wharf through the covers from his first delivery, he wastefully drove a half-volley into the arms of Wright at cover point.
That was about the time Solanki found his stride and, apart from when Smith was bowled by Wharf trying to flick one to the leg-side boundary that had proved profitable throughout the course of his innings, the captain never lost it. In fact, he won it.
