Glamorgan beaten by the rain and the DLS method inT20
Gloucestershire (150/9 off 20 overs) beat Glamorgan (32/2 off 5) by five runs via the DLS method
The Cardiff rain halted Glamorgan’s NatWest T20 Blast progress as Gloucestershire claimed a five-run victory via the DLS method.
South African star duo Colin Ingram and David Miller were left stranded when the heavens opened, meaning a cruel defeat for the Welsh county, which dents their quarterfinal ambitions.
Gloucestershire’s total of 150/9 looked under-pair but the inclement weather dramatically altered the situation at the SSE SWALEC.
The visitors had begun in tepid fashion after losing the toss and almost lost an early wicket when a flashing cut from Phil Mustard was parried at backward point by Andrew Salter.
Glamorgan were initially punished for that drop. Both Mustard and opening partner Klinger found the boundary with regularity to propel the visitors to 45/0 from their powerplay overs, before a wicket went down.
Craig Meschede’s first ball then yielded the crucial breakthrough with Salter this time comfortably pocketing the catch.
But Mustard continued on his merry way, partnered by Iain Cockbain.
Together they added 52 for the second wicket until Cockbain was caught by Michael Hogan to give Meschede a second scalp.
And at 98/2 in the 13th over, Gloucestershire looked to have built a solid platform.
They appeared less stable however when Glamorgan all-rounder Ingram snared key man Mustard for 57 with his leg-spin, Salter again taking the catch in the deep.
Kieran Noema-Barnet was then superbly snaffled by Aneurin Donald to give Hogan a wicket as Gloucestershire’s innings dramatically lost pace.
Jack Taylor followed two balls later, cleaned up by the Australian and Thisara Perera didn’t last long either, Miller this time with the diving grab. Hogan cleaned up the tail, castling George Hankins and getting rid of Benny Howell to finish with astonishing figures of 5/17 from his four overs.
And when Aneurin Donald set about the visitors’ attack in the opening over, Glamorgan appeared to be in cruise control in pursuit of 151.
The 20-year-old Welsh starlet’s onslaught was brief though; he popped a catch to Howell off Payne to fall for 15 off nine balls.
Opening partner Jacques Rudolph then lost his wicket at the vital moment. Glamorgan needed to sit at 33/1 after five overs under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method to win, but the captain was bowled by a ripping yorker from Perera to leave the Welsh county 32/1 when the rain came.
That left them five short of the DLS target (37/2) and facing defeat unless the rain relented.
And it looked for a moment as if play would resume, with the umpires targeting a 14-over innings. But showers returned to the Cardiff skies and the Welsh county were frustrated, suffering their second defeat of the competition.