T20 Match Preview: Glos will use previous win to inspire them against Kent - Smith
10 July 2015
Gloucestershire spinner Tom Smith says the team will use the memory of their emphatic nine-wicket win over Kent earlier this season to inspire them for the re-match.
Michael Klinger (69) and Ian Cockbain (54) shared an unbeaten stand of 105 in the game at Beckenham and Tom is hoping for a repeat at a sold-out Cheltenham on Sunday.
He said: “We will take a lot of confidence from the game at Beckenham which was a good win against a strong side. We will be playing the same way and hoping for the same result.”
To watch a video interview with Tom click below:
Tom took 2-22 in that match and has been in fantastic form, taking 21 wickets in the Blast this season – more than anyone else prior to the latest round of matches.
He is also one of only five bowlers to take a five wicket haul in this year’s competition (5-39 v Essex) and is the only one to have taken a hat-trick.
But the 27-year-old says his recent T20 form has even taken him by surprise.
He said: “To be honest I’ve bowled the same way I have for the last two or three years – I think luck has a bit to do with it. It’s amazing and it's caught me by surprise. It would be lovely to finish the group stages as the top wicket taker as a conventional spinner – no doosras or anything like that.
“It would be a lovely personal milestone but I’d be just as happy if we get to the quarter finals and I’m not top wicket taker.”
Tom says last week’s win over local rivals Somerset has reignited Gloucestershire’s Blast campaign and the players are hoping it will be the first of a late run of victories that will propel them into the quarter finals.
He said: “There was a sense of relief as there were quite a few people in the dressing room, myself included that had never beaten Somerset.
“It was fantastic to get back to winning ways and hopefully we'll go on to press for that quarter final place.
"Even the ones we’ve lost in the last three or four games have been so close. Had we have won a couple of them we would be right up at the top. We are playing good cricket, we just need to get over that final hurdle.”
Gloucestershire Team News
Head coach Richard Dawson is waiting on the results of a number of late fitness tests before naming his final squad for Sunday’s game against Kent.
Squad (from): Michael Klinger (C), Hamish Marshall, Ian Cockbain, Peter Handscomb, Benny Howell, Geraint Jones (Wkt), Chris Dent, Kieran Noema-Barnett, Jack Taylor, Craig Miles, Robbie Montgomery, Tom Smith, Liam Norwell, David Payne, James Fuller, Miles Hammond
Kent Spitfires
Kent topped the South Group before Friday's T20 Blast fixtures with seven wins from their first 10 games.
Squad (probable): Sam Northeast (C), Daniel Bell-Drummond, Joe Denly, Sam Billings (Wkt), Fabian Cowdrey, Darren Stevens, Alex Blake, Adam Ball, Calum Haggett, Matt Coles, James Tredwell, Mitch Claydon, Sam Weller.
Key Man
Kent skipper Sam Northeast has led from the front this year with more than 500 runs in the NatWest T20 Blast.
He has hit more boundaries than any other player and has a top score of 114.
Opta Facts
- Gloucestershire have won their last two T20s against Kent, after losing the first six meetings.
- Gloucestershire have lost their last three at home, after losing the preceding three.
- They have won 10 of their last 12 tosses at home.
- Michael Klinger has 578 runs in nine innings this season – only four players have scored more runs in an English domestic T20 season, all of whom batted at least 14 times.
- Hamish Marshall needs two catches to reach 50 in English domestic T20s.
