T20 Blast: Sam Northeast hits Glamorgan to crucial Gloucestershire win

Glamorgan claimed a crucial T20 Blast victory beating Gloucestershire by 32 runs in Cardiff to keep alive their hopes of reaching the last eight.

Sam Northeast’s 60 top scored for the hosts in their innings of 183-5 with Timm van der Gugten clubbing 38.

Ben Charlesworth’s 45 put the visitors in the hunt but they fell away to finish on 151-8.

Peter Hatzoglou (3-23) starred with the ball, taking three wickets to help secure the win.

While not as much of a surprise as England’s declaration on Friday, Glamorgan threw a curveball by sending Prem Sisodiya out to open with Kiran Carlson.

However both were dismissed early, with Carlson sent back in the second over and Sisodiya following in the third.

Billy Root steadied the ship with 36 before Tom Smith tempted him down the ground into an easy catch for Matt Taylor.

Chris Cooke and Northeast’s fourth wicket partnership built nicely until Cooke was removed caught by Ben Wells off Tom Smith.

Northeast was the anchor of the innings, top scoring with 60 and forming 50-plus partnerships with both Cooke and Van der Gugten as Glamorgan surged late in the innings.

Dutch international Van der Gugten made a dazzling cameo, smashing four sixes for 38 off just 19 balls before falling to Matt Taylor.

Glamorgan’s strong finish put them in a strong position and their bowling attack defended it impressively.

Ruaidhri Smith dismissed Miles Hammond (nine) with his first ball in the third over.

Prem Sisodiya repeated that feat with his first ball, sending Roelofsen into a catch from Northeast at deep mid-wicket.

Ben Wells was bowled for 15 by Hatzoglou, and the Aussie spinner took Charlesworth two overs later as Billy Root one-upped Northeast for catch of the day.

The quality catches kept coming, as Sisodiya caught Tom Price off Ruaidhri Smith for six.

Van der Gugten flirted with a hat-trick in the 16th over, removing Graeme van Buuren and Matt Taylor on consecutive deliveries before David Payne defended the next ball.

Hatzoglou took his third wicket, dismissing Tom Price in the 17th over as the Gloucestershire chase fizzled out.

After three defeats in a row, Glamorgan bounced back to claim an important victory to keep their hopes of a quarter-final place alive.

Gloucestershire have now lost four straight, with their qualification hopes all but over.

Glamorgan’s Timm van der Gugten told BBC Sport Wales:

“We obviously have lost the last couple of games so it was nice to get out there and get the win. Hopefully it’s the start of something and we can get on a bit of a run to push towards the quarter-finals.

“It probably wasn’t like the other wickets we’ve been playing on, there was a little bit more in it for the bowlers, so if you didn’t become too predictable it was more challenging.

“Once you get a few wickets, it’s quite hard to keep up with the run rate. So (we’re) very happy with the win and hopefully it can be the start of a few more.

“We’re still in the hunt. We’ve got two massive games against Surrey and Somerset, if we can put in a good performance against those two and get a win or two, then we’ll definitely be in a position to push for that quarter-final spot.”

Gloucestershire’s Tom Price told BBC Radio Bristol:

“We’re a side in transition, we’ve got a lot of inexperienced players. I think Van der Gugten’s innings at the end hurt us a lot – probably got them 21 more runs that we’d have liked to have chased.

“We had starts with the bat, and then we just lost wickets at regular intervals which really, really hurt us and cost us the game.

“It’s tough because it’s those small margins that are hurting us. I don’t feel like we lose all the phases of play; we do win some and get into good positions, but it just fades away.”