As the dust settles on Glamorgan’s seven-wicket defeat to Essex, attentions quickly turn to the visit of Hampshire to The SSE SWALEC on Friday night. Here are four lessons we learned from yesterday’s defeat.
Destructive Donald
The 19-year-old Welsh batsman showed everyone just how good he is, with a free-flowing innings of 51 from 38 balls. Despite Glamorgan losing Jacques Rudolph and David Lloyd early on, Donald – along with Colin Ingram – took on the Essex bowlers with confidence and a fair degree of success. He found the boundary with ease when other batsmen were struggling and proved that he could be a crucial cog in this Glamorgan T20 side coming in at Number Four.
Masters Of Their Art
Essex found success through medium pace, with David Masters using all of his experience to limit the Glamorgan charge. Between him and captain Ravi Bopara, Essex got through eight overs, conceding just 36 runs and taking three wickets. Wahab Riaz, the Essex paceman, was greeted with an array of big shots by the Glamorgan batsmen, then Jesse Ryder found it much easier with pace coming onto the ball. Clever medium-pace bowling can be hugely effective in T20 cricket.
Value Of Experience
Although Essex lost the well-set Ryder for 42, then Tom Westley for 41, and we still in need of a partnership to steer them to victory, it never looked in doubt thanks to the cool head of Ryan ten Doeschate. The Dutchman has seen it all in T20 cricket and played a vital role in accompanying the youngster Dan Lawrence through to the finish. Ten Doeschate hit 30 off 18 puts to put Essex into an unassailable position.
Acceleration Is Vital
Rudolph admitted after the game that Glamorgan enjoyed a brilliant first 13 overs, but lost momentum towards the end of their innings, meaning that a score in excess of 160 drifted away from their grasp. The loss of Ingram in the 10th over and Donald in the 14th meant that new batsmen had to come in and quickly acclimatise to the conditions. Graham Wagg and Craig Meschede are powerful hitters, but they were kept quiet by the Eagles' bowlers.
Glamorgan have the perfect chance to bounce back when they take on Hampshire this Friday. All adult tickets for the game are £10. Secure your seats by clicking here.