A hard-hitting 96 by Colin Ingram from 62 balls, plus a disciplined bowling and fielding performance saw Glamorgan defeat Somerset by three runs in their contest in the NatWest T20 Blast at Taunton.
The Welsh county made one change to their line-up for the match at Taunton with Ben Wright replacing Andrew Salter from the side that lost to Surrey on Friday night, but it was the usual pairing of Jacques Rudolph and Craig Meschede who opened the batting. Jim Allenby opened the bowling and after being cut square of the wicket for four, he removed Meschede who spooned the ball into the hands of short extra cover.
After a couple of singles, Colin Ingram cut Jamie Overton for four before drilling the next ball straight back over the bowler's head. Allenby then returned to the fray and was clipped to the mid-wicket ropes by Ingram, before two balls he was harpooned for six over mid-on. Ingram then lofted Alfonso Thomas high over extra cover for six before drilling the next three balls through mid-on, mid-off and deep backward square for successive fours as Glamorgan ended the powerplays on 53/1 as heavy drizzle briefly started to fall.
Rudolph then reverse-swept Abdur Rehman for four before Ingram lofted the spinner over long-off for six before guiding Overton for a single to complete a 27-ball fifty. But with the total on 69, Rudolph skied a pull against Overton and was well caught at fine-leg by Rehman as Chris Cooke joined Ingram. who then drilled Overton for four through mid-off and six over long-on, before having a moment of good fortune as he inside-edged Rehman for four to fine-leg.
A flurry of singles then followed as Glamorgan reached the 100-mark in the 12
th over. Shortly afterwards, Cooke drove Rehman straight for six but he swatted the next delivery straight to Peter Trego at mid-wicket. Having been joined by Graham Wagg, Ingram drilled Waller over long-on for another six before Wagg skewed Groenewald for four to third man, followed next over by a pair of imperious straight drives for four against Thomas.
Ingram speared Thomas through backward point for four followed by a mighty pull for six to the last ball of the 18
th over, before next over securing a couple of scampered singles before in the final over , Wagg scooped Thomas for four before to the last ball of the innings he was caught at extra cover by Tom Cooper as Glamorgan ended on 170/4
Wayne Parnell, on his final appearance before flying to Bangladesh, opened the bowling and was pulled for four by Allenby before the Springbok produced the perfect riposte by bowling the former Glamorgan man with his next delivery. Johann Myburgh then speared Michael Hogan over point for four, followed next ball by a rasping straight drive through mid-off.
Peter Trego began by glancing Parnell to fine-leg for four, with Myburgh then drilling the South African for four through extra cover before Trego off-drove Meschede for a booming four followed by a pull behind square-leg for four, but with the total on 40, Myburgh swatted Wagg's first ball into Cosker's hands at backward point.
James Hildreth began with a crisp on-drove for three against Wagg before the spin of Cosker and Ingram was briefly introduced with each not conceding a boundary in their opening over as the target became 117 from 72 balls. Wagg then returned and was driven straight for six by Trgo who then pulled Ingram for four. Hildreth also swept the leg-spinner for four, but with the total on 82 Trego pulled a full toss from Meschede high to long-on where Hogan completed the catch.
Tom Cooper made his way to the middle with 89 needed from 55 balls and he began by clipping Cosker through cover point for four but the boundaries quite sparse against the frugal bowlers. The equation had become 71 from 36 balls when Parnell returned and was swatted and cut for four in successive balls by Cooper but the wily Cosker struck in the 16
th over as Hildreth miscued into Rudolph's hands.
Luke Ronchi then joined Cooper as Hogan returned with Somerset needing 56 from the last four overs. The Kiwi clipped the seamer to fine-leg for four before Cooper clipped him to the point boundary, but from the penultimate ball of the over Lloyd at deep square-leg took a fine running catch to remove Ronchi and next ball Ingram at long-on held onto a skier to remove Cooper.
Jamie Overton's response was to smite Wagg for four and six off successive balls, but he then pulled the next delivery high to deep mid-wicket where Cooke held the skier with Somerset on 135/7. Groenewald then pulled the last ball of the 18
th over for six leaving Somerset needing 28 off the last 12 balls.
After a single to Rehman, Groenewald clubbed Hogan over long-off for successive sixes before a trio of singles before Parnell returned to deliver the final over with the home side needing 12 to win. Groenewald drilled the first ball to long-on for four, before scampering a single to third man. A wide then followed before Rehman drove the ball to cover. Groenewald then dug out a yorker for one run before Rehman was bowled off the penultimate ball leaving Max Waller needing to hit a four to win the game. He failed to make contact as Glamorgan won by three runs.