TAZEEM Ali says he got the reward for putting extra work into his bowling after Warwickshire got their Metro Bank One Day Cup campaign back on track.
Ali took five wickets to hold up Northamptonshire’s reply in response to the Bears’ 291 for eight.
That included a century from captain Alex Davies in what was a 62-run victory at Rugby School on Sunday.
The Bears recovered from 32 for four thanks to Davies’ measured 123 (from 123 balls). The former Lancashire batter’s second List A century was well-supported by Kai Smith (50, 50) before important late-order contributions from Michael Booth (45 not out, 25) and Jake Lintott (37, 45).
Tazeem then spun the Steelbacks to destruction with five for 43, his maiden first-team five-for as the visitors fell well short on 229.
Only George Bartlett (47, 57) and Justin Broad (43, 47) threatened to challenge the target but they each fell to 19-year-old Tazeem.
Ali told the club’s official website: “It wasn’t the start we wanted with the bat, but Davo (Davies) batted brilliantly to get us up to a good score on that wicket. We needed someone from the top six to go big and he really put us in a great position. Then Boothy and I managed to put a few on at the end.
“Davo gave us bowlers something to bowl at and I was very pleased to take five wickets. I missed out on the first game last week so coming back in here, I knew the wicket was going to spin a bit, especially as we bowled second. So it was just about trying to keep the stumps in play and being attacking. I have done a lot of work on my bowling in red ball and white ball and today I got the rewards for that.
“It was great to get a win under our belts. It was disappointing to lose the first game in the group but it’s great to come here and win at home and that gives us a lot of momentum.”
Warwickshire chose to bat but suffered another dreadful start. Having imploded to 38 for seven against Yorkshire at Scarborough in their Metro-Bank opener, this time they hit 32 for four as three of the top five lasted a combined five balls on the way to bagging ducks.
Both Steelbacks’ opening bowlers struck twice in three balls. First Liam Guthrie as Rob Yates edged to wicketkeeper Lewis McManus and Zen Malik was lbw. Then Luke Procter who trapped Ed Barnard and Hamza Shaikh lbw.
Davies, playing in the competition for the first time having not been signed up for The Hundred, and Smith rebuilt steadily with a stand of 109 in 16 overs. Smith reached 50 for the second time in List A cricket before dragging a reverse sweep at Rob Keogh on to his stumps.
Vaansh Jani hammered Yuzvendra Chahal to point where George Bartlett took an excellent low catch but further support for Davies came from Lintott in a stand of 82 in 17 overs during which the club captain reached a 104-ball century to warm applause from the excellent crowd at the lovely outground.
Lintott hoisted Chahal to long off and Davies missed a scoop at Domnic Leech and was bowled but Booth and Tazeem Ali added 55 from the last 29 balls to take Warwickshire close to the 300 which appeared about par.
The Steelbacks reached 30 without loss but then lost two wickets in seven balls as Ricardo Vasconcelos lifted Olly Hannon-Dalby to mid off and Aadi Sharma spliced Barnard to extra cover. McManus (32, 40) set down roots but Tazeem flighted a beauty on to his off-stump. When Tim Robinson middled a cut at Barnard but fell to a stunning catch by Malik, it was 73 for four.
Bartlett and Broad kept the Steelbacks in the game with a stand of 80 in 15 overs but Tazeem returned to dismiss them both in successive overs. Bartlett chose the wrong ball to pull and was bowled middle stump. Broad reverse-swept straight to short third man.
Rob Keogh emulated Broad and when Leech flicked Tazeem Ali to mid-wicket, the England Under 19s spinner had his five-for and his team had the win they needed after starting with a defeat at Scarborough.
