McAndrew and Coles power Sussex Sharks to Glamorgan rout

On a bright and busy double-header afternoon at Hove, Sussex responded to a five-run defeat for their Women’s side with an emphatic display of their depth in the format.

Coles and Tom Alsop (50 from 27) provided the impetus behind a late Sussex batting surge to reach 195-4, which having deemed their previous total of 166 against Somerset about 20 short, seemed to right a generally sturdy ship.

With Glamorgan always fighting an uphill battle, the visitors threw caution to the wind and ending up collapsing from 29-0 to 49-7 in the space of 27 balls.

They staved off the inevitable with Asa Tribe making 34 from 21 but eventually caved in, with Sussex wrapping up victory on the mound of McAndrew’s greatness.

McAndrew said: “It was a great win. It was set up by the batters, to be honest. I don’t think it was a 190-run wicket, to be fair. I felt we were 15 or 20 runs over par with the bat, and that gives you a good feeling as a bowler.

“We felt we had runs to play with and there was also a bit in the wicket. The batters were coming off saying it was a little bit two-paced. We had runs on the board and we were able to exert scoreboard pressure when they came at us hard and bowled them out cheaply.”

Having won the toss for the first time this campaign, Sussex skipper Tymal Mills opted to bat, keeping the pattern of their previous three matches.

Regarded to be stronger with the bat, Sussex had favourable statistics behind them, in addition to the outcome of the afternoon’s first match – a five-run win for Glamorgan Women, who batted first.

Daniel Hughes did not benefit from the decision, however. The Australian fell for one run to the eighth ball of the innings, caught at short third man from the bowling of Jamie McIlroy.

The story of Sussex’s 2024 Finals Day run was that when one opener struggled, the other fired, and this was repeated here.

Harrison Ward – who had musterd just 21 runs in his previous three innings – played himself back into form against the Glamorgan attack, rediscovering his powerplay passion as he scored freely around the ground.

His 38 from 23 balls – before skying a Mason Crane twirler and being caught by backpedalling extra cover fielder Kiran Carlson – got Sussex to 54 by the end of the first six overs.

Glamorgan wrestled back control after Ward’s demise, with Shoreham-born Crane and right-arm paceman Andy Gorvin limited the scoring opportunities of John Simpson and James Coles.

The visitors’ fielding was also impeccable, with Carlson setting the tone in the infield whilst youngsters Asa Tribe and Will Smale rotated at long-on and long-off to match up the batsmen.

Glamorgan’s discipline made for a highly watchable battle between bat and ball, with Sussex working hard for their boundaries.

Medium-pacer Dan Douthwaite’s wayward bowling allowed for Sussex to keep in touch with their target, however, with 31 runs off his first two overs.

This undid much of the good work of an understated Glamorgan attack, and from a position where Sussex could have been in trouble after the loss of their openers and number three John Simpson (26 off 23) at 89-3, the hosts instead ploughed on.

With 128 on the board at the end of 15 overs and just three men departed, James Coles and Tom Alsop put their foot to the floor.

The spark for the impending onslaught did not come from a Paul Farbrace instruction or a scoreboard glance, but rather a painful blow to Coles’ midriff.

McIlroy, a steely competitor at the best of times, was unapologetic about his speedy delivery in the 16th over and went straight back to his mark in search of Coles’ wicket.

The Sussex all-rounder, having taken plenty of time to get everything back in place, sought revenge, and alongside Alsop would soon have it.

A ferocious flurry of sixes, five to be precise, came in the following 4.2 overs, while Glamorgan lost their hard-earned lines, serving up a no-ball and two wides in the final two overs.

The innings’ final ball came down to another McIlroy versus Coles battle, and with one last heave, Sussex’s 21-year-old sent his Mid-Walian elder over the boundary rope for another maximum.

With 195 on the board, and Coles and Alsop both reflecting on excellent half-centuries, Sussex had every right to feel in control.

Glamorgan were bullish in their initial response, with openers Carlson and Will Smale progressing well at 27-0 by the end of the third over.

Knowing even that rate of scoring would not be enough to win the game, however, the visitors sought to pepper the boundary.

They ultimately misjudged their tempo from the fourth over onwards, with the short walk from the perspex T20 Blast dugouts to the crease becoming ever steeper for every batsman.

It started with Carlson (12) pulling straight to James Coles at midwicket from the bowling of Ollie Robinson, and with Ben Kellaway (10) and Colin Ingram (0) following in consecutive balls to Nathan McAndrew by picking out Tom Clark and John Simpson respectively, it already looked a foregone conclusion at 40-3.

When Smale (19) fell to a Coles full toss in the 7th over, with his off stump ejecting the ground, the momentum was truly sucked out.

It was then a procession from McAndrew, who saw off Chris Cooke (6), Douthwaite (1) and Timm van der Gugten (0), with the latter two again coming in successive balls.

The South Australian temporarily owned Sussex’s best-ever T20 figures of 5-7, and went for a deserved breather afterwards.

Brad Currie, who went for some tap in his figures of 1-36, and Tymal Mills (2-10) finished the job after some lower-order resistance from Tribe (34 from 21) and Crane (25 from 19), finally securing Sussex’s victory with 4.4 overs left of the innings.