Dale Steyn had a rough welcome to the NatWest T20 Blast as Glamorgan were beaten by seven wickets by Essex.
But further south, in Brighton, David Wiese had a hugely satisfying day as he took four wickets for 38 runs to help Sussex to a 48-run win over Somerset
Steyn was given a rude awakening when New Zealander Jesse Ryder smashed three fours off his second over; an act repeated by Tim Westley four overs later as the rusty Proteas paceman conceded 32 runs from three overs. The agony was that he might have had a wicket with his first ball but Ravi Bopara was dropped by Aneurin Donald at second slip.
Action has been a long time coming for Steyn, who played only one game for the Gujarat Lions in the IPL and has been ‘rested’ for the Proteas triangular tournament against West Indies and Australia in the Caribbean.
But the Glamorgan bowlers were on a hiding to nothing after their batting line-up could muster just 141-6 off 20 overs. Jacques Rudolph went for 2 and Colin Ingram for 26 off 24. Chris Cooke (23 not out) put on 36 with Aneurin Donald (51) for the fourth wicket to avoid total humiliation.
Ryder (42) and Westley (41) did the damage, taking the score to 64-1 in the seventh over. Essex won with 22 balls to spare.
Sussex will be well pleased with their signing of Wiese for two matches to cover for Bangladeshi left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman.
Mind you, there was not a lot of pressure on the Sussex bowlers, and a great deal on the Somerset batting after Sussex posted a brilliant 222-3 off their 20 overs.
Chris Nash and Luke Wright posted 156 off 13 overs before the first breakthrough came. Wright was sent back on 83, which came off 39 balls, with eight fours and five sixes. Nash went on to an unbeaten 112 off 64 balls (13×4, 3×6).
Roelof van der Merwe, capped by South Africa and the Netherlands, was harshly treated, conceding 36 runs off his three overs.
Somerset were on the back foot the moment the self-styled ‘Universe Boss’, Chris Gayle, was bowled for 5. Mahela Jayawardene (51) and Van der Merwe (59 off 29; 3×4, 5×6) wre the only batsmen to make a significant impact.
Wiese, like Steyn, was another short of game time coming into this series. In the entire 16-match run of the Royal Challengers in the IPL, he took the field once. Sadly, he has just one more match to play for Sussex.
Rikki Wessels top-scored with 38 as Nottinghamshire collapsed to 112 in pursuit of Durham’s 178. Keaton Jennings helped put the brakes on Notts’ rate by taking 1-15 in his four overs.
