Royal London One-Day Cup: How Gloucestershire can progress
2 May 2019
Gloucestershire will have to win their two remaining games in the Royal London One-Day Cup in order to give themselves a chance at progressing to the knockout stage of the tournament.
That goes without saying, but what might derail the team’s path to Lords is they now also need results elsewhere to go their way.
Gloucestershire's opponents
Gloucestershire will travel to Eastbourne to take on Sussex on Sunday the 5th, a crucial encounter between two sides chasing the top three spots in the South Group. Sussex this season have beaten Essex, Surrey, Kent and Middlesex; the three teams sitting at the bottom of the table and another playoff hopeful. Our records are very similar, the key discrepancy being the outcome of the games against Middlesex. Sussex have only fallen to Somerset and Hampshire, the top two teams as things stand but Gloucestershire will be hoping to get their first away victory when the sides meet.
They then face Ryan ten Doeschate’s Essex side in their final match of the group stage where they will be hoping to reach the likely necessary 10-point milestone. Essex’s chance of progression to the next round have fallen by the wayside but they never really got going to begin with as they have already been beaten on four occasions.
Other teams in the hunt
In all likelihood, Hampshire will finish in the top two with 12 points already under their belt. That leaves the remaining two playoff spots up for grabs with four teams still in the mix. Obviously, Gloucestershire are one of those four, so let’s take a look at the remaining three.
Somerset – Gloucestershire’s local rivals who they put to the sword last Sunday started off with a perfect four wins from four but back-to-back losses at The Bristol County Ground and at Middlesex have left the chasing pack licking their lips. They have two home games against Hampshire and a struggling Surrey side to close out the group stage. They will fancy their chances to win at least one of those games but they have lost their early season momentum.
Sussex – Should Gloucestershire come out on top in the match at Eastbourne, Sussex will need to be victorious against Glamorgan in their final home game to be in with a shout of qualifying for the next round. Two wins from two might not be enough the way results have gone so they will most definitely be looking to win out at home.
Middlesex – Middlesex have beaten Gloucestershire and Sussex but have fallen to Hampshire and Somerset meaning its very difficult to tell whether they will progress or not. They might have the easiest looking run in if you look at the table but they could be running into certain teams at the wrong time. Glamorgan are coming in off the back of two impressive wins against Surrey and Gloucestershire and Middlesex’s final opponents Kent just dismantled Surrey restricting them to only 127 all out.
Where help can come from
It is hard to imagine the way Surrey have played so far this season that they will be any trouble for Somerset meaning they rivals will more than likely book their place in the knockout stage, especially if they can pull out a win against Hampshire. So, attention may be best placed elsewhere. Glamorgan, who just surprised Gloucestershire in Bristol will finish their Royal London One-Day Cup campaign away to Middlesex and Sussex. It’s not mathematically impossible for Glamorgan to qualify for the next round and they may fancy their chances to pull off some upsets to give themselves an outsider’s chance to do so. Kent can also do Gloucestershire a favour if they can reproduce their performance against Surrey when they line up at home to Middlesex on the final day.
What Gloucestershire need to do
Despite losing a foothold in the competition at the hands of Glamorgan, Gloucestershire remain firmly in the hunt for knockout stage qualification and while it may be a tough ask for other results to go their way, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility. First things first though, win at Sussex.
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