Essex beat Glamorgan by three runs in the Owain-Dai Cup at Cardiff on Friday. The visitors posted 312 to Glamorgan's 309 in a match that went down to the final over. To be fair, both sides had been fighting for runs throughout, and neither let up when it mattered.
Glamorgan set a solid target with 309, building through the middle order after some shaky starts. Essex chased well but lost wickets at crucial moments. By then the pressure was on, and you could feel it changing how the batsmen played.
The game really tightened up in the last ten overs. Essex needed roughly eight runs an over but couldn't quite string the boundary shots together. One mistake ends it in cricket, and Glamorgan held their nerve when Essex needed to accelerate.
The result leaves Essex seventh with twelve points from eight games, while Glamorgan remain eighth on eight. Neither position is comfortable, but the gap of four points matters more than the placement itself. Extended their unbeaten run to eight—wait, that's wrong, this was a loss for Glamorgan. Extended their losing streak to three instead.
Both teams have been involved in tight games lately. Glamorgan lost to Hampshire by ninety runs, then drew with Derbyshire, before losing two by single digits. Essex had a big win over Worcestershire but followed with narrow defeats to Hampshire and Sussex.
Three runs is nothing in a one-day match. You can bottle it or win it on a single delivery. Essex held on grimly, but the match could easily have gone either way. The bookmakers were pricing a low-scoring game, but both sides batted freely and it showed in the total.