Klinger Slays Dragons At Cardiff
30 July 2013
Michael Klinger hit an unbeaten 86 as Gloucestershire finished their Friends Life t20 campaign on a high with a nine-wicket win over Glamorgan at Cardiff.
The result prevented the Welsh county from reaching the quarter-finals as Durham qualified at their expense.
It was a good night for Klinger from the moment he won the toss and invited the hosts to bat.
A disciplined bowling and fielding display restricted Glamorgan to 141-5 from their 20 overs, despite 85 not out from opener Jim Allenby.
Benny Howell was the most successful bowler with 2-25 from his four overs. But there were also economical spells from Dan Christian and Chris Dent, while young Tom Shrewsbury bowled a single over for just three runs.
Klinger and Dent (25) then put together an opening stand of 66 to lay the foundation for a comfortable win, secured with 21 balls to spare.
After the game Michael Klinger told this website: "Although we were out of the competition, there was a determination to end on a positive note and I was delighted with the bowing unit, led by Benny Howell, on what was basically a good pitch.
"We thought it would be slow and even at the halfway stage we were not sure what a par score was. Glamorgan's turned out to be just below par thankfully.
"I was hoping to bowl Tom Shrewsbury more, but there was a short boundary on one side and Jim Allenby was well set.
"It would have been nice to get him out and then bring Tom back, but it wasn't to be. He can still take a lot from the over he bowled and I'm sure there will be an opportunity for him in four-day or 40-over cricket before the end of the season.
"I was just intent on giving us a solid start to our reply and it was nice to see the job through. We have the talent to have done a lot better in the competition, but we have not been consistent enough."
For more details of a fine win at Cardiff click on Cricket and then Match Reports.
