Northeast leads Glamorgan to One-Day Cup triumph over Somerset

Sam Northeast's unbeaten 63 for Glamorgan came off just 49 balls

Glamorgan 186-7 (20 overs): Northeast 63*, Root 39; G Thomas 2-23, Ogborne 2-36.

Somerset 171-6 (20 overs): Umeed 45, Dickson 44; Kellaway 2-37, Gorvin 2-42.

Glamorgan win by 15 runs

Scorecard

Glamorgan won the One-Day Cup for the second time in four years as they held on to beat Somerset by 15 runs in a game cut from 50 to 20 overs.

Sam Northeast held the Glamorgan innings together with 63 not out off 49, aided by Billy Root (39) as they posted a challenging 186-7.

Somerset started slowly but captain Sean Dickson hit 44 off 20 to give them hope before the Glamorgan bowlers kept their nerve to limit Somerset to 171-6.

It was a major surprise that any cricket was possible at Trent Bridge after a first day wash-out.

Despite another appalling weather forecast, play got under way on time in a surreal atmosphere in front of a very sparse crowd - with the captains agreeing on the short format and putting up with the slippery conditions around the square.

With both sides sticking to the players not involved in The Hundred, a youthful Somerset had six missing from the team which contested the T20 Blast final, while Glamorgan did not select Mason Crane or Chris Cooke.

Alfie Ogborne struck twice in his first over, dismissing Kiran Carlson and Tom Bevan in consecutive balls to leave Glamorgan 8-2.

Will Smale swung the bat effectively to get the Glamorgan innings going, hitting five fours and a six to make 28 off 14 balls before falling to a brilliant diving catch from Sean Dickson haring backwards at mid-off, from the bowling of Kasey Aldridge.

Danger man Colin Ingram holed out at long-on off George Thomas for 11 as Glamorgan stuttered to 71-4 at halfway.

But Root got the momentum going with a pair of pulled sixes and Northeast had the experience not to panic at a slow start as he too started finding the boundaries, and the pair plundered 29 off an over from Aldridge.

Northeast’s mature 50 came up off just 39 balls and the stand was worth 78 by the time Root edged to James Rew off Thomas, who finished with a fine return of 2-23.

After a brief clatter of wickets, Timm van der Gugten went on the attack, hitting 26 not out off nine balls to the delight of the remaining Welsh supporters, with 17 runs coming off the last over as Glamorgan finished with a very competitive-looking total.

In the Somerset reply, Thomas was just starting to get going when he was run out for 13 in a mix-up with Andy Umeed, who got after Ben Kellaway before the spinner kept his nerve to have Lewis Goldsworthy caught for 11.

The Scotland international went on to make a useful 45 but when he feathered a catch to Smale off Andy Gorvin, and James Rew skied one to the keeper off Kellaway, Somerset were under the cosh at 89-4 in 13 overs.

Dickson, who had surprisingly come in at six, set about dragging the game back towards his team in a furious assault on the Glamorgan bowling in partnership with teenager Archie Vaughan, as the required run-rate came down from 14.

But with Somerset hopes rising and Glamorgan nerves jangling, Dickson fell in the 18th over trying to reverse-sweep Gorvin and clothing a catch to short third man.

Vaughan (32 not out) was left with too much to do as Jamie McIlroy bowled a mean 19th over and Dan Douthwaite finished the job.

Glamorgan’s player of the match Sam Northeast told BBC Sport Wales:

“We haven’t played T20 for a while so it was strange and we didn’t know what a good score was, we thought we’d build a partnership and then try to accelerate once we had a platform.

“My key objective was to remain calm throughout the whole thing as I got used to the pitch, it was tough to start but once you got used to the pitch you could build an innings.

“It’s been a long season, so to end with a trophy is great personally and for the team, there’ve been great efforts from everyone.”

Glamorgan captain Kiran Carlson said:

“A few of us were taken aback when we saw the pitch with the covers off, we were a bit wary but I’m flabbergasted we managed to get a game with the weather radar yesterday. We’re just so pleased we did, so all credit to Trent Bridge and the groundstaff.

“This competition’s been about getting it done when we really needed to, we’ve got a nice mix of experience and a few younger guys, but Sam showed why he’s such a great player, he got us up to a challenging score.

“The atmosphere was a bit strange, it felt like we were back in Covid times, but it was nice when the fans started singing towards the end. (The small crowd) is a shame, yesterday would have been an unbelievable atmosphere, but we’ve still won a trophy and brought it back for the fans.”

Somerset captain Sean Dickson said:

“They bowled better than us, I thought a fresh pitch would have offered something up top but our bowlers were sliding all over the place with the decision to bowl first, so we’ve just got to take our medicine and go forward.

“I was hugely optimistic while I was batting but cricket’s a funny game, it swings your way or it doesn’t, but credit to Glamorgan as they held their cool.

“You can’t say it’s a frustrating time for the club because the bottom line is that we’ve competed for three trophies, how many times can a club say that?

“We would have liked to win one or two trophies, but as a club we’ve just competed for three and we’ve got to be proud of the squad.”