Sam Northeast Leads Glamorgan to Victory in Vitality Blast 2024 Encounter against Sussex
Sam Northeast showcased his prowess, steering Glamorgan to a triumphant victory against Sussex in the 2024 Vitality Blast in a thrilling encounter at Sophia Gardens.
Despite facing a formidable challenge from Tymal Mills, Northeast’s unbeaten 61 runs laid the foundation for Glamorgan’s success.
Sussex 158 for 6 (Coles 69*, Crane 2-22) lost to Glamorgan 183 for 7 (Northeast 61*, Mills 4-33) by a margin of 25 runs.
Sam Northeast’s 61 wasn’t enough to set up a winning target as Glamorgan defeated Sussex by 25 runs in Cardiff to earn their first victory of the 2024 Vitality Blast. Tymal Mills took four wickets to help limit Glamorgan to 183 for 7 from their 20 overs, but the team managed to hold the total thanks to a strong bowling performance and a far better fielding effort than in their opening game against Surrey.
With a career-high 69 runs without a wicket, James Coles led the Sussex batting attack, but the rest of the batting lineup did not provide much assistance. Mason Crane was the standout player for Glamorgan with the ball, finishing with figures of 2 for 22 in his four overs as Sussex concluded at 158 for 6.
Throughout the Glamorgan innings, they had to struggle to score runs due to frequent wicket losses, but they were still able to record a competitive total thanks to important contributions from all down the order. Chris Cooke and Northeast were having a great powerplay for the home team, scoring 56 runs at the expense of two wickets.
On 21, Dan Hughes gave up a life as he slipped trying to grab Danny Lamb’s bowling for what should have been an easy catch. Mills fired Cooke just as it appeared Glamorgan would have the opportunity to exploit this error.
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Northeast and Colin Ingram shared a strong 68-run partnership that appeared to be laying the groundwork for them to assault Sussex’s bowling in the last overs. Mills gave them two wickets in two deliveries, which put them behind again. Firstly, Marnus Labuschagne was bowled off the next ball with a ball that beat him for pace, after Ingram was bowled off an inside edge.
After taking Dan Douthwaite for eleven, Mills claimed his second four-wicket haul of the tournament, caught by Oli Carter. At the end of the innings, Northeast struck the final ball for six runs, giving Sussex a target of 184.
Thanks to a costly over from Tom Bevan, Sussex got off to a quick start, although they were somewhat slowed down by two Sussex wickets during the powerplay. Carter and Coles maintained a 42-run stand that kept them in the game. Glamorgan felt they had removed Carter in the previous over when the umpires decided that a low catch from Tom Bevan had not been taken cleanly, but Eddie Byrom eventually got him for 33 after bowling him off of Ingram.
Regular wickets meant that some rebuilding was always necessary, as it had been throughout the Glamorgan innings, and three fast wickets saw Sussex go from 73 for 2 to 85 for 5. Thanks to an outstanding spell that saw him lose just one boundary, Crane applied the brakes just when Sussex needed to pick up speed.
Labuschagne produced a brilliant boundary catch that allowed him to return the ball into play and take out John Simpson, giving Crane his second wicket.
In T20 cricket, Coles batted sensibly for his first fifty, but the necessary rate continued to rise because he had no help. Sussex required 65 runs before the beginning of the eighteenth over, however they were unable to meet the challenge and Glamorgan won their first match of the year.
