The second T20 double-header in the Vitality Blast for the Club at Hove, where Sussex Sharks played hosts, ended in contrasting fortunes, where both teams took back a lot from the day at the 1st Central County Ground.
Glamorgan Women secured their first-ever win in the Vitality Blast in their second attempt, after coming close to beating Middlesex last Sunday. However, Sussex Sharks were a far stronger side to the one that travelled to Sophia Gardens on two occasions earlier in the season, where Glamorgan convincingly beat them in both the Metro Bank One-Day Cup and the Vitality T20 Women's County Cup.
Glamorgan won the toss and chose to bat first, managing to score 133 thanks to Daisy Jeanes and Bethan Gammon's knocks of 42 each. However, it was the bowling unit that delivered, despite a good start for the Sharks batters, to pull off an impressive comeback and take home a 5-run win. Speaking on the bowler's efforts, Bethan Gammon said:
"We weren't really sure if 133 was a good target as the pitch was playing well on most occasions, but with the strength in our bowling unit, we were very calm on the pitch, despite a good start for them.
"Despite the loss against Middlesex last week, the way we managed to take the game to the last over and make it a low-scoring thriller spoke volumes of our bowling. As long as we have a few runs on the board, we know we can defend well.
"It is so good to have Gemma (Porter) for the season, she's a top bowler and also an amazing batter. Having her bowl up top and in the death is so good, because we know we can depend on her. But to see Sara (Phillips) and Poppy (Walker) turn up the way they did today, especially Poppy who was playing her first T20 match this season, was really good and we are excited to see where we can go in this competition."
The star of the bowling innings, Poppy Walker, said: "It was really exciting to play my first T20 game for Glamorgan, and to take 4 wickets is even more surreal because my first game (in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup) wasn't as good. I love being part of this group, the atmosphere here is so good!"
However, the day did not end well for the Club, as the men's team lost to their Sussex counterparts, by 78 runs. Winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Sharks recorded 195 runs in their 20 overs, which proved too much for Glamorgan, who in an attempt to score big, lost wickets in regular intervals. Head Coach Richard Dawson came down to do the media duties post match, and had the following to say:
"This was a disappointing loss, especially coming off the back of an excellent win at home on Friday. They (Sussex Sharks) never let us in really, and convincingly beat us. We dust ourselves off and go again next week.
"We were off with our bowling, despite putting some pressure in patches. But we gave release balls which allowed them to get back the momentum. We didn't perform the way we have been with the ball over the last three games.
"I think Asa (Tribe) played well in the middle-overs, nice to see him get some time in the middle, but overall our batters were outplayed by their bowlers, and they deserved to win today. The game against Surrey last week was disappointing, as we should have won that, but it was good to see us bouncing game in the last game (against Essex). We are a better team than what we showed, and the goal is to bounce back again for Thursday's trip to Chelmsford."