Date-stamped : 15 Aug97 - 10:18 Natwest Trophy: Visions of Lord`s fade for Sussex By Christopher Martin-Jenkins at Edgbaston Sussex (43-2) need 300 runs to beat Warwickshire (342-3) THEY have chased 284 to beat Lancashire and a record 328 to defeat Derbyshire but surely Sussex have this time bitten off more than even they can chew. To overcome Warwickshire when the second NatWest semi-final resumes at Edgbaston this morning they will have to make a further 300 from 49 overs. A run-out in the first over towards the end of a long, rain-in- terrupted day was not the start they needed in pursuit of 343 and when Rajesh Rao, hero of their quarter-final, was caught at slip close to the ground by Dominic Ostler for a duck, War- wick- shire`s cup was overflowing. It is a good pitch but Allan Donald has yet to bowl. Sussex failed to make the most of winning the toss on a morning as heavy as lead and only their quickest bowler, Vasbert Drakes, and the most accu- rate by far, Mark Robinson, looked to have any defence against devas- tating hitting by David Hemp and Neil Smith. Warwickshire`s fourth NatWest final therefore beckons. Smith, their acting one-day captain, imposed himself with a succession of weighty off-side strokes in the early overs while Andy Moles, the act- ing four-day leader, batted with customary solid ortho- doxy and on- ly an occasional wince when the finger he broke against Sussex a fortnight ago was jarred. They put on 39 be- fore the first break and 130 in 29 overs before Smith`s attempt at an 11th four resulted in a skier to cover. Moles fell lbw to Drakes but Hemp was missed off a tricky ski- er to Mark Newell at deep midwicket off Amer Khan when he had made only one and this youthful veteran of past semi-finals for Glamorgan proceeded to make a majestic 111 not out from only 93 balls. Three of his five sixes went straight over the sightscreen. Despite the excellent Robinson, Ostler hit the ball equally hard in helping Hemp to plunder 142 in 22 overs before Trevor Penney squeezed the pips from the last five overs. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) NatWest Trophy: Donald does the damage with distinction for Warwickshire By Christopher Martin-Jenkins at Edgbaston Warwickshire (342-3) beat Sussex (237) by 105 runs THEY had to keep their mind on the job against a worthy bat- ting effort but, bowling straight and fielding slickly, Warwick- shire duly earned their fourth NatWest final in five years, beating Sussex by 105 runs on the second day of their semi-fi- nal. No overseas player has been more committed to his county than Allan Donald and he obliged his team-mates again with five wickets for 37 before flying off to Pretoria last night to col- lect a gold medal from Nelson Man- dela. Donald and Basil D`Oliveira, another dignified player who found a second home in the West Midlands, are the only cricketers to have won the highest grade of the Presidential Sports Awards by which the new South Africa honours its most distinguished sportsmen. It is a great help to a county side to have a real thoroughbred in the team and although no game is ever so simple, the final on Sept 6 may well be decided primarily by the duel between Donald and Stuart Law, of Essex. Who will be in command of Donald and the rest of Warwick- shire`s team at Lord`s is a nice question. Nick Knight, offi- cially vice- captain to Tim Munton and one of four men to have captained the side this year, had a net in the middle after the game and his latest broken finger has mended sufficiently for his return to the side next week. Neil Smith, however, has now cap- tained the county, once so well led by his father, to 10 wins in 11 matches. It will be a delicate deci- sion for Phil Neale and the cricket committee to make. Sussex now have a longer-term future for which to plan and they have left out Bill Athey and Vasbert Drakes for today`s champi- onship match. One of the lessons they have already drawn from a season of transition is that only the strongest sides can make effective use of good, as opposed to champion, overseas players. The likeable Drakes had a useful match and while he was driving his way to 15 quick runs yesterday the dream was still possible, but what was needed was a Tendulkar or a Jayasuriya, even a Lara. If Shane Warne does not choose Hove as the place for his wife and child to spend their English summer next year, a Test crick- eter in his twenties with the inclination to make a long-term commitment - Michael Bevan perhaps? - would fit the bill. It was a lovely day and perhaps a third of the first-day crowd of 10,000 stayed until the job was done in early afternoon, just in case the home side`s virtually cast-iron overnight position should be undermined. All that Sussex could realistically hope for was to avoid a humiliation but they did more by means of another good one- day innings by Mark Newell and an effort by Peter Moores which personified the spirit of his team. They reached the 50-over mark needing a further 120 runs, a mere 15 fewer, remarkably enough, than Warwickshire had scored in their final and decisive onslaught. Twelve an over, however, is feasible only with wickets in hand and Sussex had lost seven to Warwickshire`s two. Athey was bowled by a sharp break-back in Donald`s third over, the fifth of the day, and six overs lat- er, Neil Taylor was run out by the most deadly cover fielder in the country, if not the world, Trevor Penney. What price Pen- ney for England in the next World Cup? The Newell brothers added 49, Mark, as usual, striking the ball handsomely on the off-side, before Keith, making room to drive, was yorked by Ashley Giles. Although Drakes fell to a nicely judged catch at deep mid-wicket by David Hemp, clinching his man-of-the- match award, the younger Newell reached 79 off 113 balls before Don- ald bowled him, off-stump, through a forward defensive. Moores bustled between the wickets and har- ried the bowlers but the task had become impossible by the time that Donald`s pace and straightness prevailed once more. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)