Day 2 of the 2026 season of the T20 Blast took us on a rollercoaster ride. After a number of thrilling bends, twists and turns, Gloucestershire edged past Glamorgan in what turned out to be a final-ball humdinger. Don't know about you, but it has certainly left us craving more.
The good thing is that 5 matches are scheduled for Sunday, May 24 in the Men's T20 Blast. Hence, there is going to be plenty of slam-bang action. Of course, team CREX will be here to call each of those games. Do join us then.
For now, this is the troika of Darpan Tikiya, Dev Rajawat and Danish Ilahi saying goodbye. In case you missed the action, feel free to scroll below the quotes and read through the detailed summary of the match š½ See you soon!
Miles Hammond: "(His immediate thoughts) I think, we are all going to be a bit knackered come tomorrow. Great to get over the line.
(What was going through his mind when wickets were falling at the other end?) Chaos. I was thinking that someone has to have a night out. In T20 cricket, there is generally going to be a time when you have to be ultra positive and take your options. So, just got to keep a calm head, I guess.
(Was he feeling calm watching the last over from the dugout?) Not at all. It was much better when I was batting out there.
(Do these kind of wins bring the team together?) 100%. Especially, when you aren't playing your best cricket. Nice to sneak through a couple of wins. You can learn a lot from these games. We now have a few days off and then, we will be up for our next game on Friday."
Player of the Match: Miles Hammond
Kiran Carlson (Glamorgan Captain): (On the defeat and overall assessment of the game) "Yeah, losing two games back-to-back on Friday and Saturday nights is obviously not ideal. I thought the bowlers did a really good job, but with the bat, we were probably short of a competitive score. It was actually a decent wicket, and I think both teams bowled very well. Overall, it was a good game of cricket for the neutral fans, but not so enjoyable for me.
(On whether they had pulled themselves back into the contest at halfway) I think if someone from the opposition plays an outstanding innings at the end, it can change the game completely. We believe our bowling lineup is very strong this year and capable of defending totals, and I think we showed that today as well. But realistically, we were probably around 20 runs short. From the position we were in, itās disappointing to lose, but thatās the nature of T20 cricket - these things can happen very quickly.
(On Miles Hammondās innings and its impact on the match) I feel fortunate to have someone like Ned in our team because even with only three overs left at the end, he can still pull games back for us. Heās been doing that for years. But credit to Hammond - heās a quality player. On a tricky wicket, he really took the game away from us, and he was probably the difference between the two teams. The bowling performances have been excellent and have really helped our confidence and morale. But at the same time, weāve had two poor batting performances, and we canāt keep relying on the bowlers to get us out of trouble every time. That responsibility belongs to the top seven batters. We now have a short break until next Friday, and we need to sort that out.
(On injured players returning to the squad) Hopefully, we will have some players back by Friday. Nathan McAndrew is already in the country, so hopefully heāll be available. Weāre still unsure about Colin Ingram at the moment. But with the schedule and injuries, thereās naturally going to be a lot of chopping and changing in the squad.
(On young Henry Hurle making an impact) For someone like Henry to come in and play like that in his first Blast game is pretty special. Hopefully, he can learn a lot from this experience and understand what it feels like to play in these pressure moments towards the back end of a Blast competition."
2:31 AM IST, 10:01 PM local time: Gloucestershire edge past Glamorgan in a last ball thriller to register their second win in two nights.
In life, and in sports, often it is not about how you start, but about how you finish. Gloucestershire's run-chase tonight was the quintessential example of it. Some new-ball magic from Fazalhaq Farooqi coupled with attacking field placements and two sharp catches resulted in them being 7/3 in the 2nd over. Suddenly, the target of 158 started to look far more daunting then it actually was.
What added to the chaos was the fact that at one point it seemed as if Glamorgan would get nowhere near to the total they eventually did in the first innings. Some impressive new-ball bowling from Duan Jansen and Merchant de Lange, coupled with the assistance that the green-ish pitch at the Sophia Gardens offered and the inexplicable propensity of Glamorgan's top order batters to try and manufacture some fancy shots got the hosts in a pickle. They were left reeling at 45/5 in the 9th over, when debutant Henry Hurle (31-ball-46) and Chris Cooke (16-ball-25) got together. The duo counter-attacked to get them to 109/6 in 16 overs.
However, the real turning point came in the over that followed. Matt Taylor was carted around for 25 runs in the 17th, which set the launchpad for a decent finish. Timm van der Gugten got into the act with an 18-ball-22 and helped the hosts get to 158/8.
But with a disastrous start to the run chase, the visitors appeared like an amateur mountaineer huffing and puffing at the base of Everest. Miles Hammond decided to fight fire with fire and counter-attacked with a 31-ball-56. Alas, he ended up chopping one onto his stumps even before his team could get halfway through to the target. James Bracey's comical hit-wicket a couple of overs later added to the problems. Captain Jack Taylor, who had earlier delivered the goods with the ball, played a responsible knock of 34 (31), but perished at a crucial juncture off the bowling of Mason Crane.
When Craig Miles got run out, Gloucestershire still needed 38 runs in 19 balls. That's when Matt Taylor joined Kamran Dhariwal and eventually, turned the tide the other way. It was, by no means a straight forward finish, with the pendulum swinging too and fro multiple times even during the last over. However, with 4 to win off the final delivery, Taylor managed to edge one to the left of the short third fielder and the ball skipped away to the fence, helping him redeem himself and hand Gloucestershire a memorable win.
OVER 20
Gloucestershire
158/8
Matt Taylor
18(9)
Kamran Dhariwal
30(27)
Fazalhaq Farooqi
2-38(4.0)
19.6 Fazalhaq Farooqi to Matt Taylor
4 EDGED AND FOUR!!! MATT TAYLOR HAS DONE IT!! FAROOQI IS DISHEARTENED!! Full and outside off. Matt remains leg side of the delivery and still backs away. Throws his hands at it and looks to reach out to smash it, but gets a thick outside edge. The ball races away to the left of short third for a boundary. ABSOLUTE SCENES!! GLOUCESTERSHIRE HAVE DEFEATED GLAMORGAN ON THE LAST DELIVERY BY JUST 2 WICKETS!!!
Last ball remains. 4 runs to win. Matt Taylor on strike. Who are you backing?