Tough night for Glamorgan as Surrey inflict heavy T20 loss 

Glamorgan 157-8 (20 overs): Cooke 49; Jordan 4-21, Narine 2-25. 

Surrey 235-5 (20 overs): Jacks 69, S Curran 59; Hatzoglou 3-45. 

Surrey (2pts) won by 81 runs 

The Welsh counties qualification hopes looked to be dented in London but are not quite over with the battle for the final qualification spot taking a twist with Gloucestershire winning a rain-effected game against fourth-placed Hampshire in Bristol to keep Mark Alleyne’s side’s hopes alive. The result leaves the South coast county two points ahead of Glamorgan, who drop to six but have a game in hand over their rivals. 

Having been decimated with injuries in recent weeks, Glamorgan made three changes from the side victorious against Gloucestershire on Sunday. New Zealander Cam Fletcher replacing the injured Colin Ingram in the middle order, whilst debuts were handed to opener Will Smale and all-rounder Andy Gorvin as Alleyne shuffled his pack with his side in the middle of four games in a week. 

It would be the home side who would come out of the traps on top with the opening pair of Will Jacks and Laurie Evans setting an early platform in the powerplay taking Surrey to 64-0 as the Glamorgan seamers struggled in the late evening sunshine. 

Spinner Peter Hatzoglou removed Evans (40) with his second ball to make inroads but supported by Sunhil Narine (36), Jacks continued the early onslaught anchoring the innings with a well-made half-century taking the London county to 150 within 13 overs.  

Hatzoglou returned to remove both caught in the deep, but this would only bring in the big-hitting of Sam Curran to take the game out of Glamorgan’s reach. A rampant 50 off just 18 balls, brutal, with brother Tom (23*) supporting well with some big late hitting to post the home side at an intimidating 238-5. 

With pressure on Glamorgan, keeping up with the high run rate was always going to be an ask even before Kiran Carlson’s early dismissal to Curran in the second over. Both Will Smale (27) and Billy Root (31) would bed themselves in before departing cheaply chasing big shots, whilst the steady Sam Northeast would nick a full ball from the impressive Jordan (4-21) to all but end Glamorgan’s slim hopes.  

Chris Cooke (49) would entertain with a series of explosive sixes to reduce the defecate, but it would be Jordan who would return to remove Glamorgan’s key man and powerful Timm van der Gugten to put gloss on the victory. 

Reflecting on a bitterly disappointing night for his team Cooke would be optimistic despite his side’s struggles. 

“It was always going to be tough. We probably didn’t play our best tonight and didn’t help ourselves with the ball. 

“230 was always going to be tough and they are a class outfit with the ball as well. It was a bit of a hammering defeat, but we will go again tomorrow night. 

“It was one of those nights where you start swinging and a few hit the middle. I’m feeling in pretty good nick and am looking to continue that for the team moving forward. 

“It is quite tough to gel. The guys have played enough cricket though whether you play three, five, or open to adapt. It is tough but we are not going to make excuses. 

“We have some really good players coming in. Cam [Fletcher] has a good pedigree and Smaley [Will Smale] looked pretty impressive tonight and that is exciting going forward. 

“It’s back in the car now, back down the M4 to Somerset tomorrow night now. It is always a massive game against them. Hopefully, it is a game that can kick-start our campaign again. 

“It’s pretty simple now, a couple of cup finals coming up. The other guys are pretty excited about that. We have had a good chat about that. Hopefully, we can get some good sleep, recover and go again tomorrow night. 

(Lead Image: Glamorgan CC)