Thrilling Comeback Victory for Gloucestershire Led by Jack Taylor’s Heroics in Vitality Blast 2024
Jack Taylor’s outstanding effort helped Gloucestershire defeat Glamorgan in a thrilling triumph in Vitality Blast 2024.
Gloucestershire was struggling at 45 for 5 in their chase of 141, but Taylor’s incredible 70 runs from 48 balls led them to an incredible two-wicket victory.
Glamorgan 140 for 6 (Northeast 46*, M Taylor 3-21) lost to Gloucestershire 142 for 8 (J Taylor 70, van der Gugten 2-8) by two wickets.
With Jack Taylor’s 70 leading the way, Gloucestershire pulled off an incredible recovery from 45 for 5 to win by two wickets.
Josh Shaw smashed the final ball for six to take the visitors past their mark, and Glamorgan appeared destined to win until three blunders in the final three overs came back to punish them.
Glamorgan had taken the lead with to runs from Sam Northeast and a superb spell from Timm van der Gugten, but Taylor’s 70 from 48 balls had secured the victory for Gloucestershire.
Prior to Taylor’s innings, Gloucestershire appeared to be going down badly, but they managed to win with the final ball of play.
More touch than power defined Glamorgan’s innings, as their top three players attempted to move the ball around in extremely bowler-friendly conditions. Kiran Carlson was fired after attempting some early ingenuity. Matt Taylor caught him at backward point as he tried to sweep a ball from Shaw over the keeper.
After taking early wickets in Carlson and Labuschagne, Northeast was content to absorb the pressure from the Gloucestershire seamers, scoring at a rate of less than one run per ball for the most of his innings. The lowest not out score by an opener in a complete 20-over inning in the competition’s history was achieved by Northeast, who finished on 46 not out from 42 balls.
When Colin Ingram tried to on drive down the ground off Matt Taylor’s bowling for 25, he appeared to be more aggressive and fell. Following his fall to the following ball, Chris Cooke had Glamorgan at 76 for 4. In the subsequent over, Ben Kellaway was caught at deep square leg by Marchant De Lange, making it 81 for 5.
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The largest stand of the Glamorgan innings was built up by Dan Douthwaite and Northeast, however it was broken after the two had scored 37 runs. Glamorgan was reduced to 140 for 6 from their 20 overs when Northeast added 22 with van der Gugten in the last overs.
The new ball caused significant problems for the batting side once more, and the Gloucestershire innings got off to a bad start. At the end of the powerplay, they were 29 for 3, and they were having a lot of trouble getting going.
Van der Gugten finished with figures of 2 for 8 after bowling four straight overs from the Cathedral Road end, including one boundary and a maiden.
Glamorgan’s introduction of spin in the opening over of the match paid off immediately as Ben Charlesworth was dismissed by Marnus Labuschagne, who made a magnificent one-handed catch while diving full length off Mason Crane’s bowling to reduce Gloucestershire to 53 for 5 after ten overs.
Jack Taylor batted superbly the entire way, but when he passed fifty, he was taken down off the bowling of Crane by both Carlson and McIlroy, who profited from some careless fielding.
Gloucestershire‘s hopes appeared to be dashed when Taylor was run out in the final over, but Northeast dropped Shaw off the penultimate ball, giving him a chance to win the match with his six off the final delivery.
