Glamorgan fell eleven runs short against Birmingham Bears in a thrilling semi-final at Edgbaston.
Set 176 to win, Glamorgan struggled to 67/5 before Captain Jacques Rudolph struck an elegant 65 from just 39 balls and put together a 50-run partnership with Graham Wagg which gave Glamorgan hope.
Requiring 26 from the last over Andrew Salter struck 14 from the first three balls but was caught just a yard in from the long on boundary handing Birmingham Bears the win.
“At one stage I thought we were going to chase a lot over 200,” said Rudolph.
“Colin Ingram and Craig Meschede really did a good job getting us back into the game but I think it was always going to be difficult losing all those early wickets, to try and get some sort of momentum.
“Even when I was batting with Waggy, we said try and take it as deep as possible, and I think in that last over we showed we were still in with a chance. Unfortunately it didn’t work out for us.
Rudolph was run out during a key stage of the game thanks to some quick work by bowler Aaron Thomason.
“Ten years ago I would have turned around a little bit quicker. But fair play to Warwickshire (Birmingham), especially young Pollock was exceptional, he’s got a big career ahead of him. It just wasn’t our day.”
It was Rudolph’s last game as captain of Glamorgan and he retires at the end of the season, but the left-hander was happy with his career and his side’s performances throughout the campaign.
“I’ve enjoyed it, I think I’ve had quite a good career. I was quite emotional when I walked off there to be dead honest. But from a team perspective we can be really proud of the way our campaign has gone, the way we’ve played our cricket.”
“We’re not blessed with a massive squad, we’ve only got a small group of players to work with, we’ve shown a lot of character this year, and I think looking past the season into the future there’s some really exciting young Welsh talent, and if the club can get the mix between more experienced players for them to learn from there’s going to be some big players for Glamorgan.”