Vitality Blast Report: Glamorgan v Bears
There were seven balls remaining when the Birmingham Bears won their first T20 Blast game of the the summer, but Glamorgan will rue the fact that no one supported their captain Chris Cooke (72) in their disappointing total of 140 for 9.
The Bears’ batsmen showed a more disciplined approach, with all their batsmen playing useful innings- this after their five- man attack had restricted the home batsmen to a below par score.
The Bears, chasing a moderate 141 to win, lost an early wicket when Prem Sisodyia, Glamorgan’s left-arm spinner dismissed Ed Pollock with his second ball, but Adam Hose soon made his intentions clear, by striking Andrew Salter for four then lofting the off spinner over long on for six.
After he was dropped in the gully on 14, Hose continued to play freely on both sides of the wicket, and with the 38yr old Ian Bell in his usual sublime form, the second wicket pair continued to dominate.
They had put on 64 in 8.2 overs, before Glamorgan made the next breakthrough, when Marchant De Lange bowled Hose, then in the following over, Bell was mortified to see a long hop from Salter end up in deep mid- wicket’s hands.
The Bears were well placed at the half- way stage, and with five overs remaining, needed a further thirty five to win, but after losing Will Rhodes for 16, the run rate increased and eighteen were needed from the final two overs.
Tim Van Der Gugten delivered the penultimate over and was plundered for twenty two run by Sam Hain and Michael Burgess, including a six from a no ball to end the game.
Glamorgan, who elected to bat, were soon in trouble, losing their first wicket to Olly Stone’s first ball and the seventh of the innings, and at the end of the first power play were 45 for 3. Stone, in only his second competitive game of the season, bowled within himself, and claimed two wickets in the innings.
Cooke had rescued his team the previous day, top scoring with an unbeaten half century, and much depended on him if Glamorgan were to set the opposition a challenging total. While his teammates found ways of getting themselves out – two were caught on the mid-wicket boundary, Cooke was selective in his shot selection.
Jake Lintott, a 27 yr old left-arm spinner, who has played only four previous T20 games with Hampshire, and was making his Bears debut, made the most of a slow pitch with some turn, and ended with the excellent figures of 4-0-13-1.
