Glamorgan vs Essex, VITALITY T20 BLAST 2021, Today Match Prediction 13 June 2021

glam vs ess Match Prediction & Analysis

Glamorgan and the Essex Eagles both haven’t had a particularly great start to the Vitality T20 Blast 2021. Glamorgan lost their first match Gloucestershire and are yet to open their account in the season. Meanwhile, Essex has played 2 games so far, winning one and losing one. Both the South Group teams will now be squaring off against each other in an important clash at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Glamorgan Preview

Glamorgan won four and lost five last season, finishing fifth in the Central group. Their performance wasn’t bad but they lacked the punch towards the end. In their first match this season, against Gloucestershire, they were set a target of 180 runs but fell just 5 runs short. Marnus Labuschagne, their star Australian batsman, was the highest scorer with a terrific knock of 93* off 56 balls. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough as the others didn’t offer him any support whatsoever. 

David Lloyd is a key all-rounder for the team and he would need to fire at the top. Chris Cooke, who finished last season with 221 runs at 31.57, is also an important part of this Glamorgan middle-order. Then there’s Colin Ingram, the hard-hitting South African batsman who is expected to make an impact.

On the bowling front, Glamorgan has Timm van der Gugten who was the leader of the attack last summer with 14 wickets at 14.92 (strike-rate 7.46). Prem Sisodiya is also a steady spinner. Baring them, however, their bowling attack is a little thin.
 

Glamorgan Predicted Playing XI:

Nicholas Selman, David Lloyd, Marnus Labuschagne, Colin Ingram, Kiran Carlson, Chris Cooke (c & wk), Daniel Douthwaite, Ruaidhri Smith, Andrew Salter, Timm van der Gugten, Prem Sisodiya

Glamorgan Actual Playing XI:

Marnus Labuschagne, Timm van der Gugten, Colin Ingram, Nicholas Selman, Chris Cooke, Ruaidhri Smith, David Lloyd, Prem Sisodiya, Andrew Salter, Daniel Douthwaite, Kiran Carlson

Essex Preview

The Essex Eagles had put up an insipid show last season and finished 5th in the South Group. The only positives for them were the performances of Ryan ten Doeschate (255 runs @ 51 average) and bowlers Simon Harmer (10 wickets @ 28.10 average), Matt Quinn (10 wickets @ 21.30 average).

They have started the new season with a win against Somerset by 3 wickets and a loss to Hampshire by 13 runs. In the match against Somerset, they were bowled out for just 142 runs while chasing a target of 155. 

Essex has a strong batting unit this year. While Doeschate is still there, the middle-order is further bolstered with Tom Westley and Paul Walter who can be pretty consistent. The presence of New Zealand all-rounder James Neesham, who hit a fantastic 53 of 25 balls in the team’s win against Somerset, gives them more strength.  

Captain Simon Harmer will be Essex’s bowling unit leader and has already taken 3 wickets in 2 matches so far this season. Left-arm seamer Paul Walter and young right-armers Matt Quinn and Jack Plom will have a lot of responsibility to continue their good performances from last year. Slow left-armer Aron Nijjar also looks to be building into a promising prospect.

Essex Predicted Playing XI:

Tom Westley, William Buttleman (wk), Michael-Kyle Pepper, Paul Walter, Ryan ten Doeschate, James Neesham, Simon Harmer (c), Aron Nijjar, Jack Plom, Samuel Cook, James Porter

Essex Actual Playing XI:

Paul Walter, Aron Nijjar, Samuel Cook, Tom Westley, William Buttleman, Feroze Khushi, Jack Plom, Simon Harmer, Michael Pepper, Jamie Porter, James Neesham

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

The pitch at Sophia Gardens generally favors the batsmen. It’s a good strip where the ball comes on nicely to the bat and remains hard almost all the way through. Slower bowlers are likely to do better here than the fast bowlers who are likely to go for runs. 

The weather at Cardiff on the day of the game is expected to pleasant and sunny. 
 

Venue Details

The highest T20I total at Sophia Gardens is 182-5 by England against Australia in 2015. Generally, from 2018 onwards, the average score by the team batting average in T20s has fluctuated from 181 to 150 and then back to around 180 runs again. The team batting first in this match should target a total of around 170-180 runs.  

Toss: To Bowl

The teams batting second have won 56% of the games at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. So winning the toss and chasing appears to be the better bet here.