18 Jul 2015 | Cricket
It's one of the closest, and complex, situations in the history of the competition as six counties remain in the hunt in the South Group for a quarter-final place in the NatWest T20 Blast.
After their thrilling victory at Tunbridge Wells over the Kent Spitfires, Glamorgan are one of the counties with ambitions of finishing in the top four in the table and securing a quarter-final place. The Welsh county are in fifth place in the table on 14 points, two points above Gloucestershire who they meet next Friday night at the SSE SWALEC in the final batch of group games.
Glamorgan need to secure a victory to remain in the mix, and by the time, the Welsh county go into action next Friday, the picture may have become a little clearer. On Thursday evening there are two important games as fourth place Hampshire, also on 14 points, play Somerset, whilst seventh placed Surrey - who still have two games to play - meet Middlesex. Surrey need to defeat their North London neighbours in order to stay in the hunt for a place in the last eight. If they lose, Surrey will be out of the equation, whilst a victory for Somerset over Hampshire could also rule the South Coast county out of the race for a quarter-final tie.
On Friday evening, the other two games to keep a very close eye on are the matches at Chelmsford between third placed, the Essex Eagles - also currently on 14 points - and leaders Kent who have already secured a home quarter-final, as well as the game at The Kia Oval between Surrey and second placed the Sussex Sharks. Victories for Kent and Sussex, plus a Glamorgan victory would help the Welsh county in their quest for a quarter-final.
There are other permutations as well involving victories for Essex and Sussex in their closing games, as well as bad weather and washouts or thrilling ties, but the simple message is that Glamorgan need to defeat Gloucestershire and then see how the other results unfold.