A captain’s innings from Rudolph sees Glam stay on top

HALF-CENTURIES by Jacques Rudolph and Aneurin Donald coupled with a frugal two-over stint of one for 12 by Craig Meschede helped Glamorgan extend their leadership of the NatWest T20 Blast south group with an emphatic 25-run win over Kent.

Rudolph’s captain’s knock of 77 not out from 52 balls saw Glamorgan post 199 for 2 on an excellent Canterbury pitch – a pursuit that proved too tough for Spitfire’s despite Joe Denly’s 68 as the hosts fell well short with a 20-over total of 174 for four.

Looking for their fourth south group win, Kent’s chase started with panache when Joe Denly straight drove Michael Hogan’s fourth delivery for a straight six.

At the other end Daniel Bell-Drummond went for three, dragging the ball on to middle stump in attempting to cut Lukas Carey’s third delivery of the afternoon to bring in Spitfires’ skipper Sam Northeast with only 21 on the board.

Denly clattered hit the ropes three times as Graham Wagg’s first over of left-arm seam went for 13 to move past the 300-run milestone in this year’s Blast, yet Kent were still 10 behind the visitors come the end of the powerplay.

Northeast upped the tempo with a swept six against Colin Ingram’s wrist spin and, with spin at both ends, Denly repeated the dose against Andrew Salter to keep Kent ticking at eight-anover.

Hitting to the shortest boundary on the Old Dover Road side of the ground, Northeast cleared the ropes again against Ingram as did Denly over extra cover against Wagg as Spitfires reached 93 for one at the mid-point of their reply.

After taking a wicket and conceding only two in his opening over, Carey leaked 17 in his second over as Northeast cantered to a 28-ball 50 with four sixes.

Northeast (60) holed out to deep mid-wicket when targeting another six off Marchant de Lange to end a second-wicket stand of 89 and bring in left-hander Alex Blake, but Denly continued serenely, lofting Wagg for a third maximum in a 36-ball half-century.

Blake (4) chipped to long-off in Craig Meschede’s first over to be replaced by all-rounder Jimmy Neesham, but suddenly the boundaries dried up and, with 36 required from the last five overs, Kent slipped behind the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern rate for the first time.

Wagg had his revenge by having Denly (68) caught on the ropes at deep mid-wicket and Kent’s outside victory hopes went with him.

Bowling first after winning the toss, Kent made two changes to the side that beat Somerset on Friday night. Having suffered a recurrence of a thigh injury New Zealand paceman Adam Milne was replaced by Calum Haggett, while veteran off-spinner James Tredwell was preferred to rookie left-armer Imran Qayyum.

Glamorgan made a watchful start through openers Jacques Rudolph and Aneurin Donald, who opened their side’s boundary account in the third over when Matt Coles leaked 15 runs.

Jimmy Neesham also conceded 15 from his second over as Glamorgan completed their powerplay overs without alarm in reaching 62 without loss.

Taking a low risk approach to batting by keeping the ball on the turf with proper cricket strokes, the visiting openers complimented each other superbly and kept the board ticking just as nicely.

Donald was first to his 50 from 30 balls only to lose his middle stump when playing across the line to Haggett’s very next delivery that made it 88 for one.

Glamorgan dangerman Colin Ingram marched in with 275 runs already to his name in this season’s Blast and – with his side on 93 for one at the mid-point of their innings – appeared intent on accelerating the run rate.

Rudolph raised Glamorgan’s 100 with an impudent reverse flick for six off Haggett then left-hander Ingram cleared the ropes with a slog sweep off the next delivery from Tredwell. But, with his score on 11, Ingram risked a lofted straight drive off Matt Coles and miscued high to long-off where Daniel Bell-Drummond took a stunning catch on the run.

Rudolph cantered to his 50 from 35 balls and finished unbeaten on 77 from 52, while David Miller contributed a useful 43 not out from 25 balls, plundering 19 off Mitch Claydon’s last over to set Spitfires a tough asking rate of 10 an over for victory. CARDIFF extended their lead at the top of Division One in the Thomas Carroll South Wales Premier Cricket League despite being held to a winning draw against lowly Ammanford at Ammanford Park.

Leaders Cardiff lost the toss and were put in to bat where they posted a high score of 235-7.

Alex Milton was once again the Cardiff star with 96 while Connor Brown chipped in with 55.

Ammanford put up an unlikely fight in the second innings as Mathew Fisher struck 71 and Elis Richards whacked 58 to steer Ammanford onto 227-6 after 50 overs. Despite failing to surpass the 236 target, they avoided defeat with four wickets still remaining.

Cardiff are now 29 points clear as Bridgend Town were forced to abandon their game with champions Newport.

Meanwhile, Duckworth-Lewis rules were needed to determine the winner at The New Mansel, with visitors Penarth falling to a defeat to Port Talbot Town.

Penarth posted 167 before they skittled out with Scott Matthews whacking a half-century (50). Bowlers Daniel Rowe (3-26) and Stuart PONTYPRIDD boosted their survival chances with a rare victory at Usk in Division One of the Thomas Carroll South East Wales Cricket League.

Ponty lost the toss and were put in to bat where Kieron Parish was in form with 84 before they were skittled out on 179, with Alex Head starring with a five-wicket haul.

But Usk fell just short with Jamie Norman’s 77 helping them reach 178 before they were dismissed.

Josh Waughington was the Ponty hero with 4-31 to help claim a narrow one-run success.

Elsewhere, Pentyrch also enjoyed a rare victory as they beat basement boys Blackwood Town by seven wickets.

Gareth Berry fired in 72 from 59 balls as Blackwood made a strong start. Richard Matthews added an unbeaten 33 before they finished on 199-9 after 48 overs, with Dominic Grosset bagging 3-16.

But the duo of Todd Wilcox (79) and Jamie Mills (88no) cut into Blackwood’s lead and guided Pentyrch to victory on 200-3.

Newbridge (49) still top the table but their lead is now down to two points after defeat at Brecon (50-4).

In Division Two, Cardiff Gymkhana remain third after a 35-run victory over Ponthir at Oaklands in a low-scoring affair. Phelps (3-36) both took three wickets.

Barney Huxtable fired back with an unbeaten 24, while Mark Cox added 22, in reply for Port Talbot but they could only complete 32.2 overs before play was stopped due to the weather. But their 104 score was higher than their DuckworthLewis target and so they walked away with the win.

The Duckworth-Lewis victories continued in Division Two as St Fagans beat Carmarthen Wanderers.

St Fagans racked up the runs through Matthew Thompson (48) and Adam Keane (44) as they completed their 50 overs on 226-7, with Gareth Thomas taking four wickets.

Carmarthen fought back with 38 from Stephen Inward and 36 from skipper Thomas but play was stopped on 35 overs with Wanderers on 120-4, which was lower than their Duckworth-Lewis target so St Fagans claimed the win.

Elsewhere, Miskin Manor (120) lost by seven wickets to leaders Tata Steel (124-3) while Tondu’s game with Newport Fugitives was cancelled.

Saqib Ali (34) and Majid Karim (22) guided Gymkhana to a beatable 97 before they were bowled out with Marc Harrold and Jamie Evans both taking three wickets.

With 98 sealing victory, Ponthir would have been confident but they were all out after only 62 with the wickets shared among Mohammad Salman (2-17), Faraz Asif (2-11) and Mansoor Tariq (2-9).

Whitchurch-Heath proved no match for leaders Abergavenny as they were beaten by nine wickets.

Whitchurch batted first and posted 141 with bowler Sam Clarke enjoying a fine day with the ball as he took six wickets to skittle them out.

Alun Jones top scored with 44 with Alex Webb and David Tibbs both hitting 14, and all three were taken by Clarke.

And it was left to Andrew Jones (66) and Morgan Bevans (65no) to fire Abergavenny to victory with 142-1.

Elsewhere, a half-century (50) from Matthew Curzon inspired Lisvane (141-7) to a three-wicket win over Radyr (140) at Llwynarthen

Barry Athletic (112) lost to title hopefuls Rogerstone Welfare (1144) by six wickets while Cardiff Central’s fixture with Ebbw Vale was cancelled due to the atrocious weather.