Andrew Salter hit 33 from 22 balls and returned figures of three for 42 as Glamorgan saw off Durham in a hard fought contest to claim the 2021 Royal London Cup in the first ever staging of the showpiece final at Trent Bridge.

Having been inserted after losing the toss, Glamorgan posted 296 for nine thanks to blistering 82 off 59 balls from skipper Kiran Carlson, with Matty Potts and Ben Raine each claiming three wickets.

In response, Durham could only muster 238, despite 84 not out from Sean Dickson and Cameron Bancroft’s 55, as Salter applied the pressure, alongside Lukas Carey and Joe Cooke, who each took two wickets.

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Earlier, Chris Rushworth saw Hamish Rutherford caught by Alex Lees to get Durham off to a flier, before Steven Reingold was brilliantly held by wicketkeeper Bancroft low to his right to leave Glamorgan 51 for two.

The Welsh side proceeded to stage a mid-innings fightback, as opener Nick Selman, who had negotiated the opening overs, and Carlson added 106 for the third wicket to take the Welsh side past 150 in the 27th over.

Within that partnership, Carlson passed fifty for the second time this season, reaching the milestone with an almighty six into the Yü Energy Stand off his Durham counterpart Scott Borthwick.

However, the game was once more tipped Durham’s way thanks to a damaging pair of overs from Potts, as Glamorgan fell from 157 for two to 160 for five in the space of 14 balls.

Selman was first to go, chipping up a simple catch to Alex Lees at mid-on for 36, before Billy Root was pinned in front the very next ball, and Carlson, on a career-best 82 from 59 balls, then nicked an edge through to Bancroft.

Joe Cooke and Tom Cullen were the men tasked with another rebuild, and they did so creditably, adding 43 and passing 200, before Cooke was caught by Potts on the square leg boundary off Borthwick for a run-a-ball 29.

Some late blows from Salter hoisted the Welsh county north of 250, before an unbroken last wicket stand of 24 off 23 saw Carlson’s side finish with a flourish.

Glamorgan were initially repelled as they looked to continue the swing of momentum with Durham adding 45 without loss in the opening ten overs, but once Salter had bowled Lees, the floodgates began to open.

Graham Clark holed out to former Durham man James Weighell at deep midwicket for 40, before Borthwick and David Bedingham fell in consecutive overs.

At 74 for four in the 19th over and needing another 223 to win, Durham were reeling, but Australian Bancroft was able to correct his side’s course with a much-needed fifth-wicket partnership of 85 with Sean Dickson.

Bancroft brought up his run-a-ball fifty in the 33rd over, but shortly afterwards sent an aerial sweep off Reingold to substitute Andy Gorvin, and Durham’s position once again became perilous at 159 for five.

Dickson advanced to his own fifty in the 38th over, but in needing 101 off 10 overs, the rate was rapidly climbing, and he began to run out of support as Raine, Luke Doneathy, and Potts all fell cheaply.

Liam Trevaskis, alongside the unbeaten Dickson, fought hard with some lusty striking, but the game, and the trophy, was ultimately wrapped up in the 46th over when last man Rushworth nicked Hogan behind to cue fervent celebrations from Glamorgan and their travelling support.

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The high octane white ball action at Trent Bridge will continue on Wednesday 25 August as Notts Outlaws face Hampshire Hawks in the quarter final of the Vitality Blast at Trent Bridge.

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