Jacques Rudolph’s 60 led the way as the South African connections fought it out to a four-run win for Glamorgan over Middlesex in the English T20 Blast on Friday night.
He hammered his 60 off 43 balls with nine fours while Craig Meschede (born in SA 1991, raised in Somerset) contributed 33 to an opening stand of 82. While Colin Ingram fell for three, compatriot Chris Cooke, the former Western Province player, picked up the standard with an unbeaten 39 off 24 balls (2×4, 2×6).
Rudolph reverse-swept the leg spin bowler Nathan Sowter for three consecutive fours in over than cost Middlesex 19 runs and went on to his eighth fifty for Glamorgan in 17 innings before he fell to a skier off the bowling of Neil Dexter (born Johannesburg 1984, went to Kent as a Kolpak player in 2005). Kyle Abbott did well to concede just 20 runs from his four overs but went wicketless
Middlesex responded powerfully, with Nick Compton (born Durban, grandson of Denis, nephew of Patrick) scoring 16 in an opening partnership of 29 in three overs with Dawid Malan (born in London, raised in Boland). Malan went on to a superb 70 0ff 54 with 11 fours and had the chase under control. But when he went, Glamorgan’s bowling tightened up and strangled the flow. Man of the Match Meschede gave up just 14 runs while taking two wickets in two overs, while Parnell was costly, taking 1-36 off four
Ashwell Prince‘s lively contribution of 32 runs off 29 balls, added to Jos Buttler’s 71, helped Lancasher to a thrilling last-ball four run victory over Yorkshire at Headingley.
Yorkshire, also bolstered by their England players were inspired by Joe Root’s 55 off 39 and Gary Ballance’s 31 off 18 to post a challenging 185-8.
Yorkshire looked good when Lancashire needed 32 off the last two overs, and 17 off the last over. But Buttler was in form, breaking the back of that demand with three sixes and two fours and easing to victory with three singles.
In a match Rory Kleinveldt will want to forget, England’s Moeen Ali hit a dominant 90 off 50 balls for Worcestershire – after being dropped by the South African in slips before he had scored a run. Kleinveldt also put down Daryl Mitchell (43) to a more difficult chance as the opening pair put on 52 in the powerplay and went on to 211-3. Kleinveldt was also taken for 45 in his four overs.
Richard Levi made a bright start to the Northants reply, hammering 42 off 38 and seeing Northants to 87-1, when he was lbw to Saeed Ajmal. But Northants could not maintain the momentum and went down by 14 runs
History was made when Northants batted: Worcs captain Mitchell instructed his wicketkeeper to shed his pads and join the outfielders, leaving no one behind the stumps.
‘In a game when you’re trying to stop the opposition scoring, it’s a legitimate tactic,’ Steve Rhodes, the Worcestershire director of cricket, said.
Compiled by Mark Salter
