ABOUT THE MATCHThe first quarter final turned out to be a one sided affair as Shahid Afridi showed once again to the world a glimpse of his batting that we got to see too infrequently in his international career. The second quarter final could be much closer as Glamorgan, who finished first in the South Group takes on Leicestershire who managed to sneak it into the finals after a red hot winning streak in the closing stages.
MATCH PREVIEWGLAMORGANThe acquisition of Colin Ingram and Merchant de Lange by Glamorgan has given them two quality players which have shaped their NatWest T20 Blast 2017 campaign. Colin Ingram has 381 runs in the tournament from only 11 innings including two centuries. He also has a staggering 25 sixes to his name making him Glamorgan’s most influential batsman by far. While Merchant de Lange may not be the highest wicket taker for Glamorgan, that’s Michael Hogan with 18 wickets, he is the biggest threat to the opposition. De Lange has express pace, a commodity that is hard to come by in international cricket and even more so in county cricket. He can sometimes go for runs but is more likely to pick wickets and create a few for his teammates as well. The batting is also bolstered by Rudolph, Donald, and Cooke in the middle order, all of them capable of scoring quickly, clearing the boundaries and stepping up when Ingram gets out early. Glamorgan has not lost two matches in succession in this entire tournament and has been one of the few reliable teams of the entire competition. Rain played spoilsport in four of their matches otherwise the South Group could have been a lot more one sided. We expect them to bring their A game to the quarter finals on Wednesday. LEICESTERSHIREWhat a roller coaster season Leicestershire has had. They started off with four victories on the trot, then were unable to win a game in their next six games and once again rattled off 4 wins in a week to make it the quarter finals. Which Leicestershire will turn up against Glamorgan? Only time will tell, however, one thing is sure that they will need to be at their very best to be able to pull this win off. Glamorgan is a batting heavy side while the success of Leicestershire has been built around their bowlers. Clint Mckay has been having a dream season and is currently the highest wicket taker in the entire league with 22 scalps to his name. Expect him to target Ingram as soon as he comes on. The Foxes also have Pillans with 17 wickets and Parkinson with 15 wickets to give this bowling lineup plenty of heft. The last couple of matches have also seen Leicestershire get their batting in order wit Luke Ronchi and Mark Cosgrove leading the way. Both of them have 401 runs in this tournament at impressive strike rates. Colin Ackerman and Cameron Delport will also play crucial roles with the bat in this game. PITCH AND CONDITIONSThe weather is something that everyone is always concerned about at in Cardiff, however, the current forecast looks very promising. There is little to no rain predicted even though a few clouds will be hovering around. The pitch at Sophia gardens will be flat and excellent for batting so as to benefit the home team most. Glamorgan needs to be careful though because it is quite often the better bowling attack that wins on a flat batting deck. OUR PREDICTIONThis is going to be shoot out between the Leicestershire bowling and the Glamorgan batting. We think this could be a close match with Glamorgan having just enough ammunition to power through.
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