Glamorgan eased to only their third victory in this season’s Vitality Blast as they beat Sussex Sharks by 24 runs under the DLS method at Hove.
The visitors laid the foundations for a huge total of 235-6 – the third-highest in their Blast history – when they plundered 81 in the powerplay.
Sussex badly missed the control with the new ball normally offered by Ollie Robinson who was absent with a back niggle.
It’s debatable if even Robinson would have been able to tame Glamorgan captain Kiran Carlson who hit a career-best 87 off 47 balls before he was caught at extra cover in the 19th over.
Carlson’s wicket was one of four for Sussex skipper Tymal Mills who is now the competition’s leading wicket-taker with 19.
Daniel Hughes led the Sussex response with 74 off 38 balls, his fourth half-century in this season’s competition.
But having been set an unlikely 79 from 28 deliveries following a 50-minute rain delay they finished on 190-8 and slipped to their third defeat of the season, although they remain second in the South Group.
Carlson and co set the tone by thrashing 75 in the first five overs after Glamorgan were put in, including 60 in boundaries.
It needed a great slower ball by Mills to stymie their progress which Will Smale pulled to mid-wicket after hitting eight fours and a six in a stand of 79 from just 33 balls.
Carlson then put on 72 off 37 with Tom Bevan and 47 off 24 with Colin Ingram to maintain their momentum.
Mills was the only Sussex bowler in the first half of the innings to concede less than ten runs in an over and his mood didn’t improve when Tom Clark dropped the ball over the rope while failing to take a catch on the mid-wicket boundary offered by Bevan.
Glamorgan might have fancied posting a score of 250-plus when they had 194 on the board after 15 overs but, spearheaded by Mills, Sussex dragged it back slightly by taking four wickets and only conceding 39 in the final five.
Mills led the way with 4 for 29 as Ingram missed a straight one and Marnus Labuschagne drove to mid-on before he snared Carlson, who struck three sixes and nine fours, only to be foxed by Mills’ speciality slower ball with a century in his sights.
Sussex were left needing to score at nearly 12 an over but after losing Harrison Ward in the second over Australian Hughes and another left-hander, Clark, added 55 in 27 balls to keep their challenge alive.
But leg-spinner Mason Crane made an immediate impact when he came on in the seventh over with two wickets in his first three balls. Clark was stumped when he missed a googly and James Coles lost his middle stump heaving across the line.
Hughes and John Simpson shared 49 off 31 balls but the required rate had climbed to 14.75 when Simpson failed to clear long on in the 12th over. Hughes hit two sixes off Chris Sole when play resumed at 10.10pm but then he holed out to deep backward-square to effectively end Sussex’s hopes.
