Klinger keen to finish Festival on a winning note
26 July 2018
The curtain comes down on the 2018 Cheltenham Festival on Friday against Glamorgan in the Vitality T20 Blast (2.30pm) and Gloucestershire's captain in the shortest domestic format, Michael Klinger, wants to end the 12 days at the College Ground with another victory following Wednesday's success over Durham in the County Championship.
After the disappointment of rain curtailing last Friday's fixture against Essex, Gloucestershire will try and register a fourth win in the South Group against a side who Klinger feels will be out to prove a point having been soundly beaten by Sussex in a day-night Championship match at Hove on Monday.
"They have had some time to re-group and they'll be over what happened there" Klinger said. "They have some fresh faces to come in and Colin Ingram is a different captain, so i wouldn't put too much emphasis on it. They've been unlucky with Shaun Marsh's injury but Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja are quality players and they have a solid bowling attack."
Whilst Gloucestershire succumbed to the rain last Friday, Glamorgan were beaten in Cardiff by Somerset, a result which leaves them with two wins after four matches. By contrast to the North Group, the South section is very bunched and Gloucestershire skipper Michael Klinger says taking two points from the last day at Cheltenham would consolidate the team's start in the competition.
"It's great to have a sell out for an afternoon game" Klinger added. "Even without the rain last week it would have been quite gloomy at the end so after taking one point against Essex this is our chance to stay at the top of the table and pull clear of Glamorgan rather than be sucked back into the pack."
"Some of the guys who played in the Championship side also play in the T20 so they'll be on a high and that's how we want to end a good Festival. We have a heavy schedule next week with three away games and we'll be in a much better position for those trips if we can clock up another win."
Both teams will select from squads of 13. Gloucestershire add Chris Dent and Benny Howell to the side that played against Essex, while Glamorgan supplement their XI against Somerset with Jeremy Lawlor and Ruaidhri Smith.
Gloucestershire (from):
Klinger (c), Hammond, Cockbain, Roderick, Noema-Barnett, Higgins, J.Taylor, van Buuren, Tye, Smith, Payne, Dent, Howell.
Glamorgan (from):
Khawaja, Donald, Ingram (c), Burns, Carlson, Cooke, Wagg, Salter, Meschede, van der Gugten, Hogan, Lawlor, Smith.
Supporters are reminded that the match is a sell-out and no tickets will be available on the day.
Coverage:
You can follow the match via the live scorecard available on the website, or via Twitter @Gloscricket.
Ball by ball commentary is also available on the BBC Sport website
