The Sussex Sharks are Glamorgan's next opponents in the NatWest T20 Blast with the Welsh county travelling to Hove on Tuesday, July 15th for a contest which is scheduled to commence at 6.30pm.
Match Preview
This is a massive week for Glamorgan in terms of qualification for the quarter-final stages of the NatWest T20 Blast with their outstanding four-run victory at The Kia Oval on Friday evening against Surrey lifting the Welsh county into third place in the table. Whilst featuring in the top four of a group clinches a quarter-final spot, a place in the top two of the group would secure a hugely lucrative home tie in the last eight, and the matches this week are set to determine whether Glamorgan might clinch a game at their headquarters.
The comprehensive 63-run victory by group leaders Essex Eagles over the Kent Spitfires on Saturday afternoon at Castle Park clinched a quarter-final spot for the Eagles and also prevents the Spitfires from moving ahead of Glamorgan on points. The coming week sees Glamorgan firstly meeting the Sussex Sharks who currently languish in eighth place in the table and for whom defeat on Tuesday night under the floodlights at Hove would virtually end their dreams of a quarter-final place.
In contrast, a victory for the Welsh county would lift them above Hampshire and into second place in the group table, just three points behind the Eagles who Jim Allenby's team are set to meet on Friday evening at the SWALEC Stadium in what could prove to be one of the Welsh county's most important Twenty20 matches for many years.
Glamorgan have met Sussex twice before in the competition at Hove, and on both occasions, they were defeated. In the match in 2010, Sussex posted a record total of 239/5 with Matt Prior blasting an imperious 117 to lay the foundations of a win by 53 runs. The following year at Hove an unbeaten 41 by Murray Goodwin - who now features in Glamorgan's ranks - saw the South Coast side to their victory target with four balls and the same number of wickets in hand, and all after Chris Cooke had smashed 42 from just eighteen balls with five towering sixes.
The two sides have already met at Cardiff in late May with Glamorgan winning by five wickets off the last ball of a thrilling game which saw Cooke strike an unbeaten 65 whilst Jacques Rudolph made 50. The pair were instrumental in Glamorgan posting a match-winning total on Friday night at The Kia Oval, so the Welsh county's supporters will be looking for a repeat of their run-scoring efforts at Hove as Glamorgan another important victory in the all-action competition.
Team News
Glamorgan have announced the following 13-man squad for the match against the Sussex Sharks, with young off-spinner Kieran Bull replacing Will Bragg from the squad who were on duty last Friday night at The Kia Oval. The squad in full is - J Allenby (capt), JA Rudolph, MA Wallace (wk), SJ Walters, MW Goodwin, CB Cooke, BJ Wright, TJ Lancefield, AG Salter, DA Cosker, WT Owen, MG Hogan, and KA Bull.