Glamorgan Welcome Spitfires to Sophia Gardens in Blast Home Opener

1 Jun 2023 |

Limited Overs Head Coach Mark Alleyne has named a 14-man squad for Glamorgan's home opener of the Vitality Blast against Kent Spitfires.

Alleyne makes two changes to the squad that made the trip to Merchant Taylors' School to take on Middlesex as Harry Podmore and Timm van der Gugten make way for Andy Gorvin and Zain ul Hassan.

van der Gugten misses out with a side strain but Alleyne is hopeful to have the Dutchman back fit for next Wednesday's clash against Surrey.

Last time out saw Glamorgan break a whole host of records as they beat Middlesex by 29 runs. Chris Cooke (113*) scored the Welsh county's fastest-ever T20 century while also breaking the Club's T20 partnership record (187*) with Colin Ingram (92*).

The pair put on the record-breaking stand to help Glamorgan set their second-highest-ever T20 total of 238.

New overseas signing Peter Hatzoglou was the pick of the bowlers with 2/28 as Middlesex came up short by 29 runs, finishing on 209/5 as a total of 447 runs were scored in the match!

Tomorrow's visitors Kent Spitfires were beaten by 13 runs at home to Somerset. After Somerset set a total of 154 in the first innings, rain reduced the chase to 15 overs for the Spitfires, with the revised target set to 126.

Somerset's strong bowling attack worked their way through the Spitfires' batting order as they were eventually dismissed for 112.

View from the camp - Chris Cooke

"We targetted trying to win this mini-series away from home with two wins and we've done that which is great.

"We're back amongst our home fans on Friday night and hopefully they'll come out and enjoy the cricket we're trying to play.

"We know Cardiff really well. We'll enjoy our day off and then really attack Friday night."

Head-to-Head - Glamorgan vs Kent Spitfires

16 July 2010 - Kent won by 14 runs (D/L Method)
11 June 2011 - Kent won by 6 wickets
13 June 2014 - Match Tied
17 June 2016 - Glamorgan won by 55 runs
29 July 2018 - Match Abandoned
16 June 2021 - Kent won by 40 runs

Glamorgan won at Cardiff in 2016 as David Lloyd was the star of the show in a rain-affected contest as the opener blasted an imperious 97 from just 49 balls before Dale Steyn, the South Africa quick bowler claimed 4/16 to put his adopted county on course for a well-deserved victory by 55 runs.

Kent were victorious on their most recent visit to Cardiff in 2021 as Matt Milnes 5/21 completed a career-best return on a green-tinged and relaid surface with all ten of the Glamorgan wickets falling to catches by the enthusiastic visitors.

The match at Sophia Gardens in 2014 also ended in a dramatic tie as Glamorgan overcame a late batting onslaught by Darren Stevens, with Michael Hogan holding his nerve to deliver a superb final over before a run-out from the final ball saw Jacques Rudolph remove the bails with the visiting batter well out of his ground as the pulsating contest ended all square.

How to watch

A live stream will be in operation and you will be able to watch on the Glamorgan website via the match centre with commentary from BBC's Nick Webb and colleagues.

The match will also be covered on our social media channels, with updates, highlights, and reports throughout the game.

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