Records tumble as Cooke and Ingram see Glamorgan to victory over Middlesex

Middlesex 209-5 (20 overs): Cracknell 73, Eskinazi 59; Hatzoglou 2-28, Sisodiya 2-34.
Glamorgan 238-3 (20 overs): Cooke 113*, Ingram 92*; Cullen 2-23
Glamorgan (2pts) won by 29 runs

Glamorgan batsman Chris Cooke feels there are a lot of good signs going forward as the Welsh county beat Middlesex by 29 runs to bounce back to winning ways in the T20 Vitality Blast at Merchant Taylors’ School last night.

On a night where several records were broken, Glamorgan showed more of the clinical execution called upon by coach Mark Alleyne following their disappointing four-wicket defeat to Somerset on Sunday evening.

After a slow start which saw both openers Eddie Byram and Sam Northeast and captain Kiran Carlson fall for the Welsh side in the opening overs. A record-breaking unbroken 187-run partnership from Cooke (113*) and overseas star Colin Ingram (92*) saw Glamorgan amass a daunting 238-3. The stand, a record for the county, was also the highest score posted by any side for a fourth wicket in the competition’s history. 

The partnership also saw Cooke hit Glamorgan’s quickest-ever T20 century with a combination of brutal hitting and well-timed shot selection. Backed up by the eloquent finesse of South African Ingram, the two middle-order batsmen punished the hosts’ weary attack in the late evening London sunshine.

Chasing the mammoth total, Middlesex started brightly in reply with Joe Cracknell (73) and Stevie Eskinazi (59) putting on 146 for the opening wicket. 

Once Cracknell departed for a well-made 77 off 42 balls, stumped by the man of the moment Cooke off the bowling of Australian seamer Peter Hatzoglou (2-28), Middlesex never looked like keeping up with Glamorgan’s run rate with regular wickets falling. 

Prem Sisodiya’s fine spell mid-innings (2-34) taking the important wickets of Eskinazi and Max Holden stemmed the run rate leaving the hosts with too much to do in the latter stages as the London County finished 29 runs short of their target.

After becoming Glamorgan’s highest-capped T20 player, 37-year-old Cooke, also celebrating his birthday, was speechless by his own and his side’s achievements.

“I’m really glad we got over the line, it’s been one of those days where everything came off the bat which is nice,” said Cooke.

“A T20 hundred wasn’t really on the radar I’m not going to lie. I’m speechless at the moment I’m really chuffed that we could bounce back.

“I came in looking to play strong shots and find the gaps. It’s a quick-scoring ground. Colin and I though got into a really nice rhythm. We haven’t really batted together that much lately so it was good to share the partnership with him.

“We were chatting to each other about the options out there and to get around 240 in the end is a great score and proved to be just enough.

“It was quite frantic out there. Hats off to Peter [Hatzoglou] for the way he bowled us back in the game. We always knew a few wickets would change it and put a bit of pressure on the new batters which kind of worked.

“The guys bowled brilliantly at the death too. Maccers [Jamie McIllroy] and Dan [Douthwaite] hit the yorkers and it shows a lot of good signs going forward.

(Lead image: Glamorgan CC)