Lloyd knock and Steyn condemn Kent to T20 defeat
Friday 17th June 2016
David Lloyd scored a career best 97 not out and Dale Steyn took four wickets as Glamorgan won a rain-shortened NatWest T20 Blast match in Cardiff.
Lloyd put together a partnership with Colin Ingram that was worth 132 in under 10 overs to compile a total of 175-4 in 16 overs that was never under threat.
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Kent won the toss and invited the hosts to bat and Lloyd, promoted to the top of the order in white-ball cricket, breezed past his previous best T20 score of 31 in no time after scoring a maiden List A 50 against the same opponents last weekend.
Mitch Claydon struck with the new ball to remove Glamorgan skipper Jacques Rudolph caught at mid-off by Daniel Bell-Drummond in the third over.
While it will be Lloyd’s near hundred that gets most of the plaudits the efforts of Ingram cannot be overlooked. When he came to the crease Glamorgan were 12-1 and David Griffiths was finding swing and seam movement.
Ingram has made 95 not out and 85 in his last two innings and his 60 here was a continuation of that fine form.
He brought up his half century off just 21 balls and struck four sixes. It was in pursuit of another maximum that he fell, attempting to hit James Tredwell over long on, well caught by Alex Blake.
There was a stuttering end to the Glamorgan innings and they looked set for even more than their 175 with Lloyd marching towards a maiden century, but late wickets curtailed their scoring. No batsmen other than Lloyd and Ingram found a way to make run scoring look easy on this Cardiff pitch.
Dale Steyn conceded just one run, a wide, and took the wicket of Daniel Bell-Drummond in the first over.
Steyn bowled three consecutive overs from the River Taff End and claimed a victim in each of them as Kent stumbled to 30-3 at the end of the fifth over.
Things only got worse from there for the visitors as Joe Denly and Darren Stevens fell cheaply. A spirited innings of 30 from Alex Blake held up the inevitable for a time, but when he fell attempting to hit a Colin Ingram long hop into the stands only to find the waiting hands of Graham Wagg at mid wicket, all hope was lost.
This was a chastening defeat for Kent who have relished big chases like this one in the NatWest T20 Blast so far this season, but in truth they never came close to challenging the target that they had been set.
Glamorgan remain top of the South Group with just one loss in six matches and a net run rate that is far superior to any other team in the group. If they keep up this T20 form over the coming weeks a home Quarter Final will be assured.