Friends Provident T20
Glamorgan 143-6 (20 overs)
Sussex 144-7 (18.5 overs)
Sussex won by 3 wickets
Glamorgan lost the top of the table clash between the only 2 teams with perfect records in the South Group of the Friends Provident T20. Although the home team posted a respectable total, and were always in the game, Sussex’s strong batting line up and explosive hitting eventually proved too much to handle.
Glamorgan captain Jamie Dalrymple won the toss and chose to bat first on a pitch that would probably favour his 3 spinners later in the game. Sussex started with 2 of their T20 international players, England’s Luke Wright and Pakistan’s Yasir Arafat bowling to Cosgrove and Allenby, Glamorgan opening pair. Ex-England international James Kirtley, who shared the power play overs, took the early wicket of Friday’s match-winning hero Cosgrove for just 14. This was a huge disappointment for the home supporters who had hoped for a Sunday morning fire and brimstone sermon from the portly Australian batsman. In the same excellent over, Kirtley also bowled Allenby for 11, after a succession of LBW appeals had been turned down.
Dalrymple and Tom Maynard now needed to consolidate the Glamorgan innings after the loss of 2 quick wickets had spoiled their hitherto comfortable start. Sussex captain Mike Yardy, another current T20 international, conceded 10 runs from an over of his medium pace left arm spin. Promising young leg-spinner Will Beer having bowled a tight over, the increasingly belligerent Maynard struck a straight 6 into the River Taff off Yardy’s next over. Beer continued to bowl very impressively, but it was Sussex’s 3rd spinner Chris Nash who gained the wicket of Dalrymple, who seems strangely unable to score runs in this form of the game, and whose continued lack of form must be a worry to himself and coach Matthew Maynard.
Tom Maynard hit another 6 to mid off from Nash’s bowling before giving his wicket away with another lofted shot, having scored a fine 35 from 28 balls faced. Gareth Rees now displayed his now customary array of attempted improvisations, including a powerful switch-hit for 4 which heartened an increasingly anxious crowd. This shot somewhat spoiled the otherwise excellent Beer’s final figures of 0-21. David Brown was playing some nice cricket strokes while Rees continued to waft his bat around without much effect, his mind being inventive but his execution on the whole being poor.
Just as it seemed that somebody needed to tell Rees to keep it simple and just get bat on ball, he confounded everybody by playing a beautiful “Dilshan” dink over the wicketkeeper’s head for 4, and then another witty improvised deflection for 4 to fine leg.
In better spirits now, the Glamorgan supporters began chanting “USA! USA! USA!”, leaving the visitors in no doubt as to where their sympathies had lain in the previous evening’s world cup clash. But Rees then missed completely missed with huge swings at 3 consecutive deliveries from Kirtley before pulling another fine shot through midwicket for another boundary. Brown was run out for 16, ending a useful partnership of 46, and then Rees himself was run out backing up at the bowler’s end, having made an amusing and ultimately effective 35 from 26 deliveries.
Glamorgan finished their innings on 143-6, which although not a big score, could be seen as a respectable effort in the context of recent T20 matches played at the Swalec. And with their bowling having thus far been their strong suit in this competition, and the sight of fearsome Shaun Tait warming up at the interval, there were grounds for cautious optimism that they could continue their winning streak.
International wicketkeepers Matt Prior and Brendon McCullum, neither of whom had actually kept wicket here, but both powerful attacking batsmen, now opened the Sussex innings. Robert Croft bowled a lovely tight first over, but the next over – bowled by Tait – cost 16 runs. Allenby retrieved the situation by bowling Prior for just 8 runs, bringing another top quality batsman, Murray Goodwin to the wicket. Harris also bowled a great over, and a brilliant leaping catch by Rees at square leg removed Goodwin, and brought the crowd to its feet.
Cosker got the wicket of dangerman McCullum, caught by Croft at short fine leg for 13. This brought in Luke Wright, yet another star batsman in this powerful Sussex batting line-up, but Glamorgan’s hopes were further raised when Yardy was well caught at mid off by Cosgrove off Dalrymple for 12. Glamorgan’s tight fielding and strong 3-pronged spin attack had not only brought them back into the game, but with Sussex struggling at 46-4, the home side were now arguably on top. Dalrymple was changing the bowling every over, as he has throughout this competition so far, not allowing batsmen to get too settled against any one of his bowlers.
However Wright hoiked Croft to cow corner for a rustic 6, and then hammered 2 straight sixes off a Harris over which cost 18 runs, as he and Hodd set about restoring the visitors’ advantage. They put on the only 50 partnership of the match in rapid time, before David Brown did very well to catch a huge skied drive off Croft’s bowling to capture the valuable wicket of Wright who had scored 39 from only 21 balls.
At this point, with Sussex 99-5, either side could have won the match. Hodd, who had been a sensible foil for Wright, then made a Rees-like hash of an outrageous improvisation, and was well stumped by Wallace off Croft for 18. Croft had put in another excellent stint, taking 2-28.
Allenby and Tait now returned to bowl the death overs, but Nash hit Tait dismissively for 6 to mid wicket, edging the visitors closer to victory. A 94mph delivery from Tait was skied high into the air, but dropped between no fewer than 4 Glamorgan fielders rushing in to get to the catch. But when Nash was caught by Rees off Tait’s bowling for a valuable 28 off 18 balls, it was already apparent that this was too little too late and that the game was lost. Glamorgan keeper Mark Wallace then conceded a second 4 byes in the Sussex innings, taking the visitors to within one shot of victory, which they then achieved fairly comfortably in singles, with 7 balls still remaining.
Although this defeat was disappointing, it should be recognised that Sussex are a very powerful team who look like running away with this division, and that Glamorgan’s great start leaves them still 2nd. A bubble may have been burst here but it still looks as if more Glamorgan bubbles will be blown in the T20 this season.
