Despite another half-century by Jacques Rudolph, the Sussex Sharks defeated Glamorgan by five wickets in their NatWest T20 Blast match at Hove.
With the Welsh county fielding the same line-up which defeated Surrey last Friday at The Kia Oval, Jim Allenby and Jacques Rudolph opened the batting as Glamorgan looked to secure another victory in their quest of a place in the last eight of the competition. In contrast, the Sharks currently languish in eighth place in the table and their already lengthy injury list saw a further addition before the start when Yasir Arafat, their star seam bowler, pulled out of the contest with Steve Magoffin replacing him as the tall Australian made his first appearance in a Twenty20 match for over five years.
He delivered a frugal opening over after Lewis Hatchett had opened the bowling for the Sharks and sweetly cover drove the first two balls for four before clipping the last to square-leg as the opening over yielded sixteen runs. Rudolph then drilled Chris Liddle's first and sixth delivery through the covers for four before Steffan Piolet dropped a chance at short extra-cover from Allenby, who celebrated by driving Magoffin to the ropes at long-on.
The turbo-charged start continued as Rudolph struck Magoffin through mid-wicket for four before Allenby harpooned Hatchett for six over mid-wicket as Glamorgan hurtled to the 50-mark in the 6
th over with another elegant cover drive by Rudolph. Allenby then clipped Magoffin to the mid-wicket ropes for four as Glamorgan ended the powerplays on 57/0 as Will Beer entered the attack.
The complexion of the game dramatically changed as with his third delivery the leg-spinner bowled Allenby as Mark Wallace joined Rudolph, with the pair working the ball around for singles until Beer bowled Wallace as he attempted a sweep. Chris Cooke duly joined Rudolph who deftly found the boundary again as he cut Steffan Piolet, but three balls later Cooke miscued a pull and was caught by Craig Cachopa at deep square-leg. Three balls later 79/3 became 79/4 as Stewart Walters was caught and bowled by Beer.
Murray Goodwin - in his first match at Hove since leaving Sussex - then joined Rudolph who duly completed a 36-ball fifty whilst Beer finished his spell with figures of 3/14. The veteran worked the ball around before Glamorgan reached the 100-mark courtesy of a pull for six by Goodwin against Piolet. He then cover drove and on-drove successive balls from Chris Nash for four before on-driving Liddle for another boundary, but the seamer gained revenge as two balls later Matt Machin at long-on took a good running catch.
129/5 became 132/6 as Magoffin returned for his final over and bowled Rudolph off his pads with a full length delivery. Ben Wright and Andrew Salter then joined forces for the final fourteen deliveries, with the latter clipping two balls to the fine-leg ropes. Wright was bowled by Hatchett in the closing over before Salter was caught at long-on off the penultimate delivery as Glamorgan ended on 151/8.
Allenby opened the bowling and to his third delivery Nash unfurled a ramp stroke for four, before Luke Wright was nearly caught at short mid-wicket by Goodwin. He celebrated by carving Hogan over extra-cover for four before Nash pulled the Australian for four, but the home captain then edged Will Owen's first delivery into Wallace's gloves as the Sharks lost their first wicket on 18.
Luke Wright responded by striking Owen straight for six, followed by a pull for four, but Hogan then caught and bowled Luke Wells as the batsman drove a ball straight back to the Australian who bent low in his follow through to catch the ball. Wright continued to use the long handle as he pulled Hogan for six, before Dean Cosker entered the attack at the Sea End and was pulled for six by Craig Cachopa, the South African-born batsman raised in New Zealand who is playing on a Portugese passport..
The batsman with a cosmopolitan background then took three successive fours off Owen before Wright also biffed him to long-on for four as the Sharks reached 63/2 at the end of the powerplays. Cachopa was then stumped next over as he went down the wicket to Cosker before Glamorgan opted for an all-spin attack as Salter entered the fray at the Cromwell Road End.
The boundaries dried up for a while as Wright and Matt Machan collected a series of singles until Wright pulled Salter for four as the target became 63 from 60 balls as Rudolph's wrist-spin was introduced at the Sea End with Allenby returning at the Cromwell Road End. The latter nearly bowled Wright in a miserly over that also saw Machan survive an appeal for a stumping.
Wright then cover drove Rudolph for four, before pulling him for six and two fours as the Sharks reduced the equation to 36 from 42 balls, but next over, Cosker at short mid-wicket took a fine diving catch to remove Wright as Salter returned to the attack. Machan responded by drilling him through the covers for four before Hogan returned at the Sea End in an over which yielded just five runs.
Ben Brown then lofted Allenby for four before clipping the all-rounder into Cooke's hands on the mid-wicket boundary. The target was 16 from 24 balls as Beer joined Machan and after seeing off Hogan, Machan clipped Allenby for four before Beer struck the winning runs with nine balls remaining, but despite the defeat Glamorgan remain in third place in the table and still in the mix for a quarter-final place.