Glamorgan open their Blast campaign with a win against Middlesex
Mason Crane obviously read our preview as he bowled a match-winning spell of 4/28 to set up the win for Glamorgan, reaching the target of 125 set by Middlesex, with five wickets and 27 balls to spare. At 64/5 from 9.1 overs Glamorgan supporters might have been nervous, but an unbeaten 64 run stand between Asa Tribe (40*) and Dan Douthwaite (31*) calmed the nerves of the visiting supporters.
Earlier in the afternoon, the two counties’ womens’ sides played out an enthralling, low scoring game on the school ground at Northwood, in which the home side only reached their small target of 78 with a ball to spare. It was therefore a slight surprise when the Middlesex captain Steve Eskinazi, elected to bat first on a pitch that seemed to be giving the bowlers plenty of assistance.
Eskinazi and Kane Williamson made a slow, but steady start against some accurate Glamorgan bowling to reach 45/0 after seven overs, Williamson given a life on 22 when a firmly hit shot burst through the hands of Kiran Carlson at cover. Fortunately for Glamorgan it was not costly, as Crane then entered the fray and had Eskinazi caught at deep square leg for 14 from 23 balls. Shortly after, Ben Geddes called a reluctant Williamson through for a quick single, and a direct hit from Hayden Kerr saw the Kiwi out for 25 from 22 balls.
Unfortunately for Geddes, he was unable to make up for the running out of his illustrious team mate, as in Crane’s next over he was bowled for seven The other Glamorgan spinner on show, Ben Kellaway then had Jack Davies (4) caught at backward point attempting a reverse sweep, to leave Middlesex at 65/4 from 10.4 overs.
Ryan Higgins joined Leus du Plooy in the middle and the pair looked to be building a reasonable total, putting on 24 from 18 balls for the fifth wicket, but Crane struck again as du Plooy chipped the ball to Asa Tribe at long on for 18. Higgins struck boundaries off Crane’s final two overs, but the Glamorgan bowler exacted revenge when he captured his fourth wicket from his penultimate ball, as Luke Hollman sliced an extravagant heave to Timm van der Gugten at short third man for 14.
Middlesex’s chances of a defendable total were then further reduced as Higgins slogged the first ball of the next over, bowled by Dan Douthwaite, to Tribe at long on, out for 21 from 12 balls. This left Middlesex 109/7 from 16.1 overs, and it was then a matter of what the last few batters could muster. They did at least bat out the full complement of overs, ending on 124/9, the last four overs adding just 15 runs. It was an excellent display by the Glamorgan bowlers, Crane’s exploits complemented by 2/17 from Douthwaite, and 1/14 from van der Gugten
Glamorgan went with skipper Kiran Carlson and Will Smale to open their batting, and having taken 17 runs off the first two overs, the introduction of the spin of Zafar Gohar, lifted Middlesex’s spirits as a spectacular catch, taken by du Plooy diving forward at long off, saw Carlson dismissed for 16. Two balls later it was 22/2 as Smale was bowled by Noah Cornwall, who had switched ends.
The modern cricketer doesn’t often take the cautious approach when it comes to T20 batting, and despite the low target, the Glamorgan batters kept their foot on the gas, and Kellaway paid the price as he was caught behind trying to reverse sweep Tom Helm off the second ball of the sixth over, out for 14 from 10 balls. This brought Glamorgan’s two most experienced batters together, Chris Cooke joining Colin Ingram, but Helm struck again three balls later to dismiss Ingram, again caught by Davies.
Glamorgan were left at 40/4 at the end of the power play and if the game had ended then, Middlesex would have won on DLS calculations.
Cooke and Asa Tribe collected runs steadily to take the score to 64/4, but with the first ball of the ninth over, Helm picked up his third wicket as de Cairies took a fine catch at point to dismiss Cooke for 14. The equation was now 61 runs needed from 65 balls.
Despite the requirement being a run-a-ball, the batters were still being aggressive as Tribe launched Higgins over long on for six. The first ball of the next over, bowled by Hollman, was again struck by Tribe for a big six over long off and he repeated the dose against Gohar over mid wicket. Tribe was looking the most comfortable of any of the batters and the pair had reduced the target to 31 runs from the last six overs.
Douthwaite then joined the party launching Hollman over long off for six, and each hit further maximums from the same over, to take the score to 115/5, and their partnership to 50. Two further maximums from the bat of Douthwaite in the next over, bowled by Helm, saw Glamorgan home. Tribe ended on 40 from 26 balls on Blast debut, and Douthwaite 31 from 19 balls, neither batter having struck a four.
Middlesex have now suffered two defeats from their opening two matches, and face Kent at Lord’s on Thursday. Meanwhile Glamorgan will host Surrey on Tuesday night in Cardiff, the Londoners having gone down to Somerset on Friday.
