Mason Crane Heaps Praise On Another Sam Northeast Master Blast

By Paul Jones

Mason Crane and Sam Northeast combined to give Glamorgan their first win of the 2024 Vitality Blast with a 25-run victory over Sussex in Cardiff.

Northeast’s 61 not out was enough to set up a winning target before Crane claimed figures of 2 for 22 from his four overs as Sussex finished on 158 for 6.

Crane then paid tribute to Northeast and said: “It is great to get on the board. I think the other night [a 19-run loss to Surrey] we were not quite our best in the field and that probably cost us the game against a really good side.

“But we have put all that right and it is very pleasing that we put on the performance that we did – a clinical win.

“Sam Northeast showed all of his experience and he keeps telling me that he is 11th on the list of Blast run scorers and he showed why, he showed some class.

“We did really well to get up to that score and then defended it really well.”

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Four wickets for Tymal Mills helped to restrict Glamorgan to 183 for 7 from their 20 overs but a solid Glamorgan bowling display, and a much improved effort in the field from their first match in this competition against Surrey, saw them defend the target.

James Coles top scored for Sussex with a career-best 69 not out but he had little support from the rest of the Sussex batting line up.

Regular wickets throughout the Glamorgan innings meant they had to fight to keep the scoring going, but significant contributions all down the order allowed them to post a competitive total.

The home side’s powerplay brought 56 runs for the loss of two wickets with Chris Cooke and Northeast going well.

Cooke was given a life on 21 when Dan Hughes slipped while attempting to take what should have been a straightforward catch off the bowling of Danny Lamb.

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Just as it looked as if Glamorgan would take full advantage of this mistake, Cooke was dismissed by Mills.

A solid stand of 68 between Northeast and Colin Ingram seemed to be setting a platform for them to attack the Sussex bowling in the death overs.

Two wickets in two balls from Mills pegged them back once again. The first was Ingram who was bowled off an inside edge, then Marnus Labuschagne was bowled next ball by one that beat him for pace.

Mills had Dan Douthwaite caught by Oli Carter for 11 to take his second four-wicket haul of the competition so far.

Northeast was there at the end, hitting the last ball of the innings for six to set Sussex a target of 184.

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Sussex started brightly thanks to an expensive over from Tom Bevan but two Sussex wickets inside the powerplay slowed them a little.

A steady stand of 42 between Carter and Coles kept them in the contest. Carter was dismissed for 33 when he was caught by Eddie Byrom off the bowling of Ingram, although Glamorgan felt they had dismissed him in the previous over when a low catch from Tom Bevan was adjudicated to have not been taken cleanly by the umpires.

As had been the case throughout the Glamorgan innings, regular wickets meant that there was always the need for an element of rebuilding and three quick wickets saw Sussex go from 73 for 2 to 85 for 5.

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Just at the point where Sussex needed to accelerate, Crane put the brakes on thanks to his excellent spell that did not concede a single boundary.

The second of Crane’s wickets came from a fantastic boundary catch from Labuschagne that saw him toss the ball back into play to claim the wicket of John Simpson.

Coles batted intelligently for his first fifty in T20 cricket, but with no support around him the required rate kept climbing.

By the start of the 18th over Sussex needed 65 runs, a task that was too much for them as Glamorgan secured their first win of the season.

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