T20 Blast: Gloucestershire beat Glamorgan by nine wickets

Michael Klinger has spent the last three seasons at Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire won the battle of the top two sides in the T20 Blast South Group in Cardiff chasing a target of just 120 on a difficult pitch.

Michael Klinger (56 not out) and Ian Cockbain (53 not out) steered Gloucestershire home with few alarms.

The visitors' left-arm spinners Graeme van Buuren and Tom Smith claimed five wickets between them.

Gloucestershire move two points clear of their Welsh rivals, having played two more.

Glamorgan struggled through most of their innings on a slow, turning pitch after an opening stand of 42 between David Lloyd and Mark Wallace.

Only Graham Wagg, with 32 not out off 23 balls, gave the innings some late momentum after Benny Howell bowled his four-over spell of medium pace for just 13 runs.

Gloucestershire took full advantage of knowing their modest target as Klinger and Cockbain were able to take their time to assess the pitch.

The visitors cruised home with 23 balls to spare.

Gloucestershire batsman Ian Cockbain told BBC Radio Bristol: "I thought we did really well to keep it to 120. Our spinners bowled really well in the middle.

"120 was probably a bit below par.

"We had a good idea of what the pitch was going to be like from the Glamorgan innings. It gave us a bit of a heads up and a chance to get a game plan together."

"We had a good powerplay and got off to a bit of a flyer which was probably a key thing with the new ball, and the ball coming on a bit quicker than through the middle."

Glamorgan captain Jacques Rudolph told BBC Wales Sport:

"We never got momentum with the batting, this wicket turned more than some of the four-day wickets we've played on. It was tough against the spinners and Gloucestershire as a team enjoy taking pace off the ball - I think it played a bit into their hands.

"We and the groundsman didn't think it (the pitch) would have played like that, we knew it was the second game on it but generally the wickets hold up quite well here. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for us today.

"We've beaten very good teams convincingly which gives us confidence, but unfortunately this wasn't our day. We've got a few days' break now and it's a nice opportunity for the guys to get refreshed and rejuvenated before we play on Thursday (14 June, away to Hampshire).

Rudolph added that batsman/wicketkeeper Chris Cooke may be "a week or two" away from returning from a back problem.