At Bristol’s Seat Unique Stadium, Glamorgan defeated Severnside rivals Gloucestershire by a score of two wickets thanks to the controlled play of Timm van der Gugten and Ruaidhri Smith.
When Colin Ingram and Kiran Carlson put on a third-wicket stand of 69, the visitors appeared to be coasting to victory with a target of 162 to win their opening games of the South Group season.
The game was on a knife-edge with the visitors needing 15 from 12 balls at the end, but Gloucestershire’s seasoned left arm seamer David Payne bowled beautifully to claim 3 for 17.
Van der Gugten, a player for the Netherlands, smashed 21 from 12 balls while adding two sixes to his total, and Smith chipped in with a maximum of his own as Glamorgan finished the chase with five balls remaining.
Ben Charlesworth, who received his first Blast task, previously top-scored with 56 and had partnerships of 52 and 48 with Ollie Price and Graeme van Buuren for the fifth and sixth wickets as Gloucestershire came back from 18 for 3 to put on 161 for 9 with Ben Charlesworth scoring the highest.
The best Glamorgan bowler was Jamie McIllroy, who destroyed Gloucestershire’s top order and finished with 3 for 30, while Dan Douthwaite got 4 for 23, including three wickets in four balls in the 19th over.
Gloucestershire was defeated for the second match in three days, and they were once more forced to consider their poor batting effort, with their top-order in particular struggling. They got off to the worst possible start when they were put into bat, losing three wickets in the span of eight balls with the score at 18.
Grant Roelofsen, an international recruit, swung at a delivery outside off stump and was caught behind for seven off the bowling of Timm van der Gugten. Chris Dent, who had hit two boundaries off McIllroy before dropping a catch to mid-on and going down for 11, had taken two boundaries off McIllroy.
Only 48 hours after being dismissed for 113 by Kent, the home team’s confidence took a further hit when Miles Hammond was pinned lbw by the outstanding McIllroy without scoring.
A return of 46-3 from the powerplay was below par, and Gloucestershire further weakened in the seventh over when Jack Taylor, who was crowded by Douthwaite and had to edge a draw to point, left the field for 16.
In a direct response to the challenge, Charlesworth pounced on everything short or wide to raid a series of boundaries and enliven the Bristol crowd. After being given a life on 45 when Ingram dropped him at deep point off the bowling of van der Gugten, he went on to score his first Blast 50 in the following over by driving McIllroy through the covers for his sixth four.
However, Douthwaite, who also removed Zafar Gohar and Matt Taylor in order to win three wickets in four balls in the last over, quickly put an end to his progress.
Graeme van Buuren provided Charlesworth with steadfast assistance in a sixth-wicket partnership of 48 in five overs after missing the majority of the Blast season last year due to injuries. This was his first participation in the short format since 2021.
Early wickets were necessary for Gloucestershire, as Matt Taylor and David Payne worked together to get rid of the openers Eddie Byrom and Sam Northeast in just two overs, with the former being held in the deep and the latter being caught at backward point.
However, Douthwaite, who also removed Zafar Gohar and Matt Taylor in order to win three wickets in four balls in the last over, quickly put an end to his progress.
Graeme van Buuren provided Charlesworth with steadfast assistance in a sixth-wicket partnership of 48 in five overs after missing the majority of the Blast season last year due to injuries. This was his first participation in the short format since 2021.
Early wickets were necessary for Gloucestershire, as Matt Taylor and David Payne worked together to get rid of the openers Eddie Byrom and Sam Northeast in just two overs, with the former being held in the deep and the latter being caught at backward point.
Before the lifting of the fielding limitations, the third wicket partnership of Carlson and Ingram advanced the score to 61 for 2 but swiftly worked to restore the balance.
Gloucestershire captain Jack Taylor summoned Payne in an effort to break the relationship, and the seasoned left-arm seamer caught Carlson at backward point for 35. The captain of Glamorgan, however, had at least made sure that those who came after him could afford the luxury of scoring at only a run per ball.
As a result, Ingram and his new partner Cooke decided to gradually get Glamorgan closer to their goal.
With the score at 121 in the 14th over, Chris Cooke provided a quick return catch to Price after raising 25 in 18 balls. When Ingram top-edged Price to short fine leg and went for a 33-ball 47, Glamorgan were 129 for 6 and the result was in doubt. Payne then bowled Ben Kellaway for three in the following over.
Glamorgan experienced yet another loss when Douthwaite was bowled by the returning Matt Taylor in the 17th over as Gloucestershire, supported by a noisy crowd, smelt blood and needed to score 30 runs from the last four overs.
Big-hitting After lowering the asking rate to 15 off 12 balls with a lift of Smith over the square leg boundary, van der Gugten then bowled Sisodiya with a strike from Zafar.
Zafar was flicked over the backward square boundary by Ruaidhri Smith, leaving the Welsh county requiring six runs off the final over. Van der Gugten then used one powerful drive over midwicket to defeat Smith and win the match.