An unbeaten 85 from Jim Allenby could not prevent Glamorgan from losing and going out of the competition as Gloucestershire captain Michael Klinger trumped his efforts with 86* as the West Country side won by nine wickets in front of a crowd of 4,200 in their Friends Life t20 match at the SWALEC Stadium.
The Welsh county will progress to the last eight of the competition if they defeat Gloucestershire tonight, and they duly made one change to their line-up with fit-again Simon Jones replacing Nick James, whilst Jim Allenby was joined by skipper Marcus North. Allenby began by swatting Craig Miles' opening ball for four over the head of extra cover, before North did the same to Dan Christian's second delivery as the ball sped away to backward point. The Australian then got a thick edge to a drive against Miles which flew over the head of slip for four
Allenby nearly holed out to mid-wicket in spinner Tom Smith's opening over before drilling Christian for four through mid-off and mid-on from consecutive balls. Allenby then greeted the reurn of Miles by despatching him to the ropes at mid-wicket as Glamorgan reached 41/0 at the end of the powerplay.
Allenby brought up the fifty by harpooning Smith for six over mid-wicket and into the Grandstand, but with the total on 55 Benny Howell bowled North. Chris Cooke duly joined Allenby with the pair accumulating in one's and two's as the visitors continued to keep things tight. With the total on 67 in the 11th over, Howell struck again as Cooke pulled a ball to Chris Dent at deep mid-wicket.
Nathan McCullum then joined Allenby but the Kiwi after making four was trapped l.b.w. by Dent as with the total on 73/3 Murray Goodwin became Allenby's new partner as the Glamorgan batsmen continued to accumulate largely in singles until Goodwin drilled Howell for three to deep mid-wicket and Allenby cover-drove the all-rounder's penultimate delivery for four to reach 50 from 42 balls.
Allenby then brought up the hundred by hoisting Smith for six over square-leg but three runs later the spinner bowled Goodwin as Ben Wright made his way to the middle. Allenby then lofted Dent for another six to mid-wicket before Wright was caught by Dent in the deep in Christian's final over. With Glamorgan on 120/5 and ten balls left Graham Wagg joined Allenby with the all-rounder making his intentions clear by clubbing Christian straight for four. Further lusty swipes came in the final over, bowled by Miles with Allenby clipping the youngster to square-leg for four before hoisting the last ball of the innings for six over mid-wicket as Glamorgan ended on 141/5.
Michael Hogan then beat the outside edge of Michael Klinger's bat on two occasions, but the visiting captain responded by drilling Hogan for successive fours through mid-off. Dent also began with a fine cover drive for three as Allenby shared the new ball. Jones then entered the fray at the River End and yielded four runs before Wagg began at the Cathedral Road End and was upper-cut for four by Klinger before Dent edged him for four to third man.
Klinger then nurdled Hogan to the boards at third man before sweeping Dean Cosker to the ropes at square-leg. Dent also square-cut the spinner for four as the 50 came up to the penultimate ball of the powerplay. Cooke then dropped a difficult running catch on the boundary's edge as Jones returned in a bid to break the opening stand which had also see Gloucestershire to a ten-wicket victory at Cheltenham.
Klinger responded by reverse-sweeping Cosker for four but with the total on 66, Dent drilled McCullum into Hogan's hands at long-off. After a no-ball from Jones, Christian on-drove the paceman for four before Klinger clipped him behind square for another boundary as he completed a 37-ball fifty as the equation became 53 from 54 balls. The visiting captain then reverse-swept Cosker for another four before driving McCullum straight for six as his side eased to the 100-mark in the 13th over.
Christian then unleashed a ferocious square-cut for four against Wagg as the target became 27 from 26 balls, with the second wicket pair continuing to work the ball around as Jones returned for his final over. Klinger leg-glanced the first ball for four before Christian thick-edged the third delivery just wide of Mark Wallace's outstretched gloves for another boundary. Klinger then pulled the last ball of the over for four before striking Wagg - in left-arm spin mode - for four to backward point as Gloucestershire romped home with 21 balls to spare.
