Glamorgan T20 Match Preview: Only a win will do - Klinger
23 July 2015
Gloucestershire need to beat Glamorgan in Cardiff on Friday night to stand a chance of reaching the NatWest T20 Blast quarter finals.
If Essex beat Kent, revenge over their near-neighbours for the defeat at Bristol in June will be enough to finish in the top four of the South Group.
Captain Michael Klinger says his side won't worry about the result of other games and will be fully focused on the task in hand.
He said: “At the end of the day if we don’t win we definitely won’t make it. We can’t control what happens in the other games so all we need to do is make sure we win.”
Gloucestershire go into their final group game with three of their top four T20 batsmen missing.
Hamish Marshall (calf) and Ian Cockbain (wrist) are both injured while Peter Handsomb is currently playing for Australia A in India.
The side are likely to need another big performance from their skipper who is the competition’s top run scorer (653) and needs just 25 more to break Jason Roy’s record for most runs in a domestic T20 campaign.
But Michael said the record wasn’t something he had thought about
He said: “I didn’t come over here thinking about breaking records. Jason Roy’s a pretty good T20 player and if he keeps it it’s no bad thing.
“I am just pleased to have had a good series and hope I can score a few more on Friday to help us reach the quarter finals.”
Michael’s opposite number Jacques Rudolph scored 101* to help his side to a 19 run victory at the Bristol County Ground earlier this season.
And the Glos opener said he is one of the men to be wary of again in the re-match.
He said: “They are a strong side with a lot of match-winners throughout their list. Jacques Rudolph is dangerous with the bat and on the bowling front my Western Australia team mate Michael Hogan has been one of the best bowlers in the competition.
“They need to win as well so it should be a great match.”
Gloucestershire Squad:
Michael Klinger (c), Chris Dent, Benny Howell, Geraint Jones (w), Kieran Noema-Barnett, Jack Taylor, James Fuller, Tom Smith, Craig Miles, Liam Norwell, David Payne, Miles Hammond, Will Tavare.
Glamorgan
Glamorgan kept their hopes of reaching the NatWest T20 Blast quarter finals alive with a dramatic one run victory over South Group winners Kent in their last match.
With Kent having been ahead of the run rate throughout the innings, two wickets in a superb final over by Australian fast bowler Michael Hogan saw Jacques Rudolph's team come out on top.
Glamorgan have won three of their last four matches and must beat Gloucestershire on Friday if they are to finish in the top four.
Head coach Toby Radford said: “Having won against Kent and scraped home, we've now got to win against Gloucestershire on Friday. We're in a similar situation to last year and hopefully we can come out on top. We'd love a quarter-final, it would be great for the club, team and the supporters."
His thoughts were echoed by experienced spinner Dean Cosker.
He said: “It will be the biggest game of the season for us, we will be up against our nearest rivals at our home ground who are playing competitive cricket - there should be a good crowd, and a great experience.
“We need a couple of results to go our way, and if they do, it will be up to us in the night.
“We certainly won't underestimate Gloucestershire.
“In Michael Klinger, they have arguably the best T20 batsman in the country, while their left arm spinner Tom Smith is one of the leading wicket takers in the competition.”
Squad:
Jacques Rudolph (c), Colin Ingram, Aneurin Donald, Ben Wright, Chris Cooke, Craig Meschede, Graham Wagg, Mark Wallace (w), David Lloyd, Andrew Salter, Dean Cosker, Michael Hogan
Key Man
Glamorgan skipper Jacques Rudolph has led from the front in this year’s NatWest T20 Blast.
The former South Africa international is the fifth highest scorer in the competition with 461 runs, 65 boundaries and a top score of 101* which came against Gloucestershire in the return fixture.
In total Rudolph has scored more than 3300 T20 runs worldwide and getting him out early may hold the key for Glos on Friday.
Opta Facts
- Michael Klinger needs 25 runs to set a record for the most runs in an English domestic T20 season; Jason Roy’s 677 in 2014 is the current record.
- Glamorgan’s win this season was the first in nine completed meetings between these teams not to be won by the chasing team.
- Tom Smith (23) has already taken more wickets in a season than any other Gloucestershire player.
- Chris Cooke needs 18 more runs to become the fourth player to reach the milestone of 1,000 T20 runs for Glamorgan.
Last Time We Met
NatWest T20 Blast
June 12 2015 at the Bristol County Ground
Glamorgan 191-3 (Rudolph 101*, Howell 2-24)
Gloucestershire 172-6 (Klinger 104*, Hogan 2-24)
Glamorgan won by 19 runs
Head to Head
| Glamorgan | Gloucestershire | |
| Games | 18 | 18 |
| Won | 9 | 9 |
| Lost | 9 | 9 |
| Tied | 0 | 0 |
| Win % | 50 | 50 |
