T20 Blast: Essex reach quarter final after rain-off v Glamorgan

Colin Ingram's brilliant century put Glamorgan in a strong position

Essex took a point against Glamorgan at Chelmsford to qualify for their fifth successive Twenty20 quarter-final.

Glamorgan, who had already qualified, will play Yorkshire at home in their quarter-final while Essex face a trip to Nottinghamshire.

Colin Ingram hit a magnificent 101 off 56 balls to steer Glamorgan to 184-5.

But heavy rain at the interval prevented any resumption with the umpires eventually calling play off at 21:00 BST.

Glamorgan were again heavily dependent on Ingram with his fifth half-century of the campaign, just three days after a hundred on the same ground in the One-Day Cup.

He smashed seven sixes and six fours in his innings off 56 balls, surviving a dropped catch and a stumping chance.

David Masters bowled with superb control taking 1-16 in his four overs before limping off with a leg injury.

It was the final home T20 appearance for veteran all-rounder Graham Napier, who made world headlines for his innings of 152 against Sussex at Chelmsford in 2008, and enjoyed dismissing Ingram in his final over.

Notts play Essex on Monday, 8 August with Glamorgan hosting Yorkshire on Thursday, 11 August.

That date clashes with the first day of the final Test between England and Pakistan, ruling out Yorkshire's England players Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Adil Rashid.

Essex captain Ravi Bopara told BBC Wales Sport:

"It feels good to be through, it wasn't great for the fans with the game getting rained off today but we needed one point and we got that point.

"But this is not the end, we've got a big step in the quarter-finals to take as we take on Notts, the idea is to go all the way and win it so we've got a long way to go.

"Graham Napier's been a great servant to Essex, in a way irreplaceable, even in this his last year, so if he says he wants a one-day contract, I'd take him any day!"

Glamorgan century-maker Colin Ingram told BBC Wales Sport:

"It's always nice when it's going well, it probably wasn't my prettiest innings but at the death it went pretty well so it's been a good couple of weeks.

"I'm always disappointed when there's a rain-out but importantly we've got a home quarter-final.

"Yorkshire are a quality side, we don't often get to play against the sides from the north so it'll be an interesting battle and I'm sure everyone is really fired up for that quarter-final.

"We've played well at home the whole season with only one hiccup (in the T20), we've had some great crowds and it'll be nice to see people come out and support again."