Career-best figures of 4/6 by Ruaidhri Smith – the most economical in T20 cricket for Glamorgan - plus a four-wicket haul by Timm van der Gugten saw Glamorgan complete a seven wicket victory over Middlesex in the Vitality Blast at Old Deer Park, Richmond as the Welsh county rose up the group table and into contention for a quarter-final spot.
After an action-packed week full of drama and incident, Glamorgan are at the home of London Welsh RFC and welcome back Colin Ingram who has recovered after his recent illness and brief spell in hospital. Graham Wagg has also recovered from the blow on his head which felled the all-rounder in his follow-through during Friday night’s pulsating match at Sophia Gardens which saw Glamorgan defeat Gloucestershire by two runs.
Ruaidhri Smith made the early incisions in a controlled spell of 3 wickets for no runs in 7 balls, as he removed Nick Gubbins with his first legitimate delivery as Wagg at cover took a fine diving catch, before Stevie Eskinazi chopped the last ball of the over onto his stumps as Eoin Morgan joined Paul Stirling with his side on 5/2. But after a lofted drive by Stirling, Morgan under-edged a delivery from Smith onto his stumps with Middlesex on 11/3
James Franklin responded with a pair of booming off-drives but Smith struck again in his third over as he bowled Stirling as Middlesex ended the powerplays on 20/4. George Scott on-drove Wagg for four before a series of singles in Smith’s final over slightly dented his figures as he ended with the remarkable analysis of 4-1-6-4.
Scott then drilled Meschede for four before Franklin trapped Franklin l.b.w. with his first delivery before two balls later Robbie White departed in identical fashion as Middlesex nosedived further to 39/6. James Fuller made his intentions clear as he swung with glee at almost every delivery, but it was Scott who struck the first six as he deposited van der Gugten over long-off.
Fuller struck successive boundaries as he cut and on-drove Meschede before Wagg returned and removed Scott who chipped a ball to van der Gugten at backward point. Fuller responded by swatting Wagg for a straight six. Six runs later the Dutchman bowled Finn, before a series of singles before he had Ravi Patel caught at mid-off in his final over. The slow over rate saw Middlesex gain six penalty runs before Fuller reverse-swept but a smart piece of fielding by Smith on the cover boundary saw Tom Barber run out as Middlesex ended on 131.
Aneurin Donald and Craig Meschede began Glamorgan’s response but the latter departed to the second ball as Gubbins at deep square-leg held onto a pull against Finn. Donald then edged the paceman over the slips for four before driving Barber over cover for three. Ingram then straight drove Barber for six before Donald carved Finn over point for four. But later in the over, a slower ball from Finn re-arranged Donald’s stumps as Glamorgan lost their second wicket on 25.
Kiran Carlson began with a cover driven four against Fuller before flicking him over square-leg for six, followed by a pair of square-drives for four against Finn. He then audaciously upper-cut Fuller for six over point before flicking him to fine-leg for four. Ingram then pulled Ingram for four as Glamorgan ended the powerplays on 67/2.
Ingram pulled Patel’s second delivery for four before Carlson flicked Scott to fine-leg for four but next ball Eskinazi at deep mid-wicket caught the young tyro for 40 off 22 balls. 77/3 saw Cooke join Ingram and the pair scored in one’s and two’s before Cooke drilled Stirling to long-on to bring up the hundred before pulling Finn for six to mid-wicket as a Midldesex fielder trod on the rope trying to complete a catch. The helter-skelter pace, which will significantly boosted the run rate was maintained as Ingram also pulled Finn for six. Cooke then drilled Stirling over extra-cover for six, followed by another pull for six, before Ingram ended the match with 7.1 overs to spare as he also drilled the Irishman for six over extra-cover as Glamorgan completed an emphatic seven-wicket victory