Glamorgan safely booked a home Semi-Final slot on Sunday in the Metro Bank One Day Cup as they made it six wins out of eight to top Group B with a 62 run victory over Yorkshire Vikings at Sophia Gardens.
The champions in 2021, Glamorgan had already booked a play-off spot before the final round of games but now happily miss out on a quarter-final game on Friday.
A solid 66 from former Yorkshire player Billy Root against his brother Joe’s county was the centrepiece in the Welsh side’s total of 230/9 in a game reduced to 47 overs after early rain. His 56 run partnership with Timm van der Gugten for the ninth wicket proved crucial in hauling the home side through the 200 run mark.
The Yorkshire spin attack of Dom Bess and Dan Moriarty tied down the Glamorgan batters with a spell of 20 overs between them that cost only 94 runs. Moriarty ended up with 3/47 from his 10 overs.
Van der Gugten ended on an unbeaten 34, which included a six and three fours, and then gave Glamorgan the perfect start with a wicket with the first ball of the Yorkshire reply, trapping Harry Duke lbw. He ended with 2/32 from his 10 overs to complete a good all round day.
The Vikings then moved to 11/3 in seven overs as Noah Kelly and William Luxton were both clean bowled. Skipper Jonathan Tattersall provided some much needed stability with his 51, enjoying profitable stands of 46 with Yash Vagadia and 59 with Matt Revis as the Vikings improved to 116/5.
Then a burst of three wickets in 12 balls by Andy Gorvin in the 27th and 29th overs saw Revis (28), Tattersall (51) and George Hill (2) all depart to turn the game even more in favour of the Welsh county.
With the run rate rising to more than six per over, Bess hit out before he was caught by Dan Douthwaite for an enterprising 22. That gave spinner Ben Kellaway his second wicket - one with his left arm and the next with his right.
At 152/8 the Vikings were still 78 short of their total and needing to score at more than seven an over. Kellaway and Gorvin mopped up the tail as Yorkshire were all out for 168.
A triumphant Glamorgan skipper Kiran Carlson who led his side to the title in 2021, said: “We needed a reaction after losing to Leicestershire and we got it. It will be nice to put our feet up tomorrow and then begin our preparations for Sunday’s home Semi-Final.
“You can feel the confidence building in much the same way as it did in 2021 and the fans were brilliant! I just hope we get a good day at the weekend and we can get as many supporters as possible at Sophia Gardens.”
Click here for tickets to the Metro Bank One Day Cup Semi-Final at 11am this Sunday, 18 August. Tickets are free for under 17s and £15 for Adults.
All Members will be given this fixture as a complimentary game which will be automatically uploaded to their Membership cards.