Maynard bags Lord's ton

Maynard strikes the ball to the extra cover boundary

Matthew Maynard scored a magnificent 104 as Glamorgan totalled 225 all out in the Benson and Hedges Cup final against Gloucestershire.

The Welsh county, playing in their first Lord's final for 23 years, lost two early wickets but Maynard and Michael Powell revived them with a stand of 137.

Skipper Maynard struck 10 boundaries as he reached three figures off 113 balls but was left high and dry as a sudden collapse from 178 for three robbed him of support.

Five wickets went down for 35 runs as Gloucestershire showed the fighting qualities which carried them to a B&H Super Cup and NatWest Trophy double last season and Maynard was eventually run out in the final over as he tried to regain the strike.

Australian all-rounder Ian Harvey, passed fit after the hamstring strain, was the pick of Gloucestershire's attack with five for 34.

Early help

Croft: Made a fatal misjudgment

Maynard had no hesitation in choosing to bat first after winning the toss but his decision backfired as Harvey and Mike Smith found early help from the wicket.

Robert Croft opened the scoring by pushing the third ball of the match through mid-wicket for two, but Matthew Elliott survived a close call when Smith beat the outside edge by a whisker with a ball which moved away late.

The first boundary off the match arrived when Croft clubbed a short of a length ball through cover but his innings came to an end in the sixth over when he hade made 11.

He shaped to play Harvey to the leg-side, only for the away swing to force a change of mind and he only succeeded in lofting the ball wide mid-off where Jonathan Lewis took an excellent diving catch.

Elliott hammered Smith back over his head for four from the last ball of the eighth over but did not last long as Harvey produced a magnificent delivery to bowl him for nine and bring Maynard to the middle far earlier than he would have hoped.

Matthew Elliott studies his shattered stumps

The accurate Smith had Powell in all kinds of trouble but the pressure was released when support bowlers Jonathan Lewis and James Averis came into the attack.

Maynard greeted Lewis by whipping the ball off his legs to the boundary and later went onto the back foot to punch him past cover for another four.

Punished

Averis was punished for dropping short in the 21st over as Maynard effortlessly pulled the ball to the fence and Powell then joined in with a straight drive.

Maynard's fifty arrived from 62 balls when he cut off-spinner Jeremy Snape for his seventh boundary.

Gloucestershire were in dire need of a wicket and it duly arrived when Powell (48) lobbed a caught and bowled chance to Snape, who made no mistake.

Adrian Dale was run out and Steve James was yorked by Averis before Harvey produced a slow looping full toss which a baffled Keith Newell could only lob gently to Rob Cunliffe at cover.

Steve James loses his off stump

Maynard earned a deserved ovation when he struck the ball through mid-on to reach his hundred but the wickets continued to fall as Adrian Shaw chipped a catch to short mid-wicket and the excellent Harvey trapped Alex Wharf lbw.

The final over saw Harvey bowl Steve Watkin for 10 from nine balls with Maynard stuck at the non-striker's end.

He called Owen Parkin for a single from the next ball but was a yard short as the ball hit the stumps and the umpire gave him out.