Glamorgan meet Gloucestershire in their final group match in the NatWest T20 Blast on Friday, July 24th in a must-win game for the Welsh county at the SSE SWALEC as they look to clinch a quarter-final place in the competition.
There are many permutations for Glamorgan and the other teams in the Southern Group seeking a place in the last eight of the NatWest T20 Blast as they enter the final round of group matches on Friday evening, but the common denominator is that Jacques Rudolph's team need to secure a victory in order to remain in the mix for a quarter-final place.
They have already been victorious in the competition this year against Gloucestershire when they played at Bristol in mid-June when the West Country team's ground proved to be an oasis of dryness. Elsewhere on Severnside it was raining, but at Nevil Road Jacques Rudolph played a fine captain's innings and showed that finesse has a place in the short form of the game as much as force, as he posted his first Twenty20 hundred. Some lusty blows by Craig Meschede and Chris Cooke also meant Glamorgan's total was too much for the home side, with their bowlers and fielders again showing great discipline with a wet ball and damp outfield as they won by 19 runs.
In last year's game between the two sides at Cardiff, Glamorgan completely overwhelmed Gloucestershire in a contest which, like this year, they also had to win in order to clinch a place in the last eight, with the Welsh county winning by eight wickets as Graham Wagg, Michael Hogan and Jim Allenby each claimed two wickets apiece as the visitors were restricted to a meagre 108-9 from their 20 overs.
Gloucestershire do not have a great record in Twenty20 cricket at Cardiff having won just twice - in 2013 and again in July 2006 - so Jacques Rudolph and his team will be looking to record their third successive win in the competition against Gloucestershire who will be going into the game without their current T20 captain Ian Cockbain, who fractured his wrist recently in the nets at Cheltenham, as well as veteran batsman Hamish Marshall who has a calf injury.