Glamorgan will head to The Ageas Bowl on Thursday evening looking to make it a record-breaking sixth away victory in the NatWest Twenty20 Blast after Jacques Rudolph and his team bounced back from their five-run defeat under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method in the rain-affected contest with Gloucestershire with a thrilling six-run victory over Surrey in the high-octane environment of a near capacity crowd at The Kia Oval.
Friday night’s win at the South London ground, underpinned by a career-best batting performance by Aneurin Donald, a frugal three-wicket spell by Marchant de Lange and yet another nerveless final over from Michael Hogan, means that Glamorgan secured their fifth away win of the summer equalling their previous best of five, set back in 2015.
Two years ago, their winning sequence on the road began at The Kia Oval as Surrey were overcome by the more comprehensive margin of 25 runs, before the Welsh county defeated Gloucestershire at Bristol by 19 runs. Then after losing at Chelmsford, Glamorgan beat Somerset at Taunton by 3 runs, Hampshire at The Ageas Bowl by 23 runs and then winning by just a solitary run in a nail-biting contest against Kent at Tunbridge Wells.
The victory on Friday evening has also kept Glamorgan in pole position at the top of the group table with 14 points. Sunday's match at Taunton has seen Somerset move up into second place on 12 points after recovering from a position of 47/5 after 8.1 overs against Surrey with a stand of 69 in just 5.5 overs by Roelof van der Merwe and James Hildreth helping their side to win the game.
Gloucestershire are now in third place having won the West Country derby against Somerset at Bristol on Friday evening, but perhaps the most significant factor as the group matches reach their climax is that Gloucestershire have a game in hand over both Glamorgan and Somerset. Hampshire are in fourth place on 11 points having failed to improve their position after losing on Friday night to bottom of the table Essex Eagles at the Ageas Bowl.