By Alun Rhys Chivers
After Jacques Rudolph’s dismissal ultimately cost Glamorgan a T20 Blast victory, Michael Hogan refused to blame his captain for the outcome of Thursday night’s match, which Gloucestershire won by five runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
Had Rudolph not been dismissed off the last ball of the fifth over – what proved to be the last delivery of the match – then the teams would have been tied.
However, Glamorgan remain on top of the South Group ahead of a trip to the Oval to face Surrey on Friday, and still have every chance of reaching the quarter-finals.
Hogan said: “It’s disappointing. You can’t control the weather. It may or may not have cost us, we don’t know yet, but it’s disappointing all the same.
“We felt like we’d restricted them towards the end to a good total with the players that we’ve got to get [the target] but it just wasn’t to be.
“If you want to be critical, we conceded a lot of extras as well, a lot of wides as well. Those plus the extra balls when they go for runs, we should possibly have been defending less runs.
“There’s two ways to look at it. You don’t know when it’s raining that you’re going to go off and not come back on. It’s a shoddy one to play at the time and nobody begrudges that.”
On his own career-best figures of 5-17, he added: “I’m happy with the numbers and the output and I felt like I’d controlled what I was trying to do out there. I’m happy with the wickets, but disappointed with the result.
“A little run out as well. When it goes your way, it just happens for you. In T20 cricket, when you’re on a roll, the game moves forward pretty quickly. It can happen like that and luckily I was on the right end of that.”
Hogan’s figures included a spell of 5-7 in two overs. However, only five overs of the run chase were possible as the rain came when Glamorgan were 32-2, chasing 151 to win.
Having won the toss and put Gloucestershire in to bat, Glamorgan’s bowlers struggled to find their line, early doors.
On his return from injury, Timm van der Gugten’s first two deliveries were legside wides, and Hogan followed up with a legside wide of his own in his first over.
Dutchman van der Gugten’s misery continued in his second over as he conceded 10 runs, including an on-driven six by Phil Mustard as the visitors reached 18-0 after three overs.
Marchant de Lange was brought into the attack in the fifth over, as the boundaries continued to come. Mustard and Michael Klinger leg-glancing the South African for four apiece in an expensive over as the visitors looked comfortable at 36-0.
Line continued to be an issue as Graham Wagg was introduced in the last over of the powerplay, as he conceded a wide in an otherwise decent over, Gloucestershire reaching 45-0 after six overs.
However, a bowling change paid off as Craig Meschede, from his first delivery, had Klinger (15) caught by Andrew Salter, attempting a pull shot.
Mustard brought up his fifty with an on-driven six off Salter in the 12th over, and Ian Cockbain added a six of his own in the same over as the visitors reached 97-1.
However, Meschede had a second breakthrough with the score on 98, as Ian Cockbain skied to Hogan at mid-off for 22. The bowler finished with figures of 2-28 from his four overs.
Colin Ingram was brought into the attack and claimed the scalp of dangerman Mustard for 57, the batsman finding Salter on the mid-wicket boundary, giving him his second catch. Mustard’s innings included four fours and three sixes.
Kieran Noema-Barnett looked to get Gloucestershire to a respectable score in the closing overs as he hit Ingram for a four and a six in the 16th over, taking his team to 125-3.
De Lange should have removed Jack Taylor in the 17th over, but he was dropped on the mid-wicket boundary by Aneurin Donald.
He soon made up for it, though, as he claimed a catch to remove Noema-Barnett for 17 off Hogan at 129-4. Hogan took another two wickets in the over, bowling Taylor for 10 before Thisara Perera was removed by an impressive catch from David Miller.
Hogan’s fourth wicket came from the first ball of the final over, as he bowled George Hankins for three.
A run out followed as Taylor was removed by the bowler for 0, as Gloucestershire slumped to 145-8.
Benny Howell gave Hogan his fifth wicket as he was caught by Ingram for 13, the visitors ending their innings on 150-9.
Donald opened the Glamorgan innings with three consecutive fours off Taylor as Glamorgan raced to 14-0 after the first over. But David Payne removed him in the next over as he holed out to Howell at mid-off for 15, at 19-1.
Perera struck to remove Rudolph for 10 in the fifth over, before the players went off for a rain break at 32-2.
Gloucestershire were ahead by five runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, although they would have been tied had the second wicket not fallen.
The match was due to resume at 9.15 with a revised target of 114, meaning Glamorgan would have required 82 from nine overs. However, more heavy rain fell and the match was abandoned shortly before 9.20pm.