Marsh key to Glamorgan's Twenty20 efforts

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Captain Jim Allenby believes Australia international Shaun Marsh will be vital for the Welsh Dragons as they attempt to reach the last eight of the Friends Life t20 for the first time since 2008.

Marsh’s unbeaten 30 from 25 balls, including a decisive six in the game’s final over, secured a five-run victory over Warwickshire via the Duckworth/Lewis method in their Midlands/Wales/West Group game at the SWALEC Stadium on Sunday.

Allenby was delighted with his team’s performance but pinpointed Marsh, their t20 overseas player, as a vital asset.

Glamorgan captain Jim Allenby insists Australia international Shaun Marsh, pictured, will be key as they attempt to advance in this year's FLt20

“That is what he does; he hits sixes and he hits fours,” Allenby told ecb.co.uk. “He is a fine player and that is why we signed him.

“It isn’t going to be the only game he hits a six in for the win that's for sure. I cannot wait to bat with him and watch him bat for the rest of this campaign. I am so excited to have him in my side rather than have to bowl against him that's for sure.“

The victory left the Welsh Dragons third in the group, and Allenby insists that experienced spinners Dean Cosker and Robert Croft will also play important roles if his side are going to advance in the competition.

“This win was massive for us,” Allenby added. “The conditions were not great but we came back well after the rain break and the fielding, bowling and batting was top class like we expect.

“At Northants he [Cosker] got hit a little bit in the powerplay, but came back like the professional and the quality player he is. We back Dean and Rob 100%; they have shown already their class and they are going to go a long way towards us going a long way into this competition.”

It was a disappointing day for the Bears, who slumped to their second defeat in this year’s competition - much to the dismay of stand-in captain Varun Chopra.

“The lads are gutted to have lost by Duckworth/Lewis by five runs,” Chopra said. “We thought it was a competitive total.

“It was a bit of a stop-start innings as we kept coming off for rain and we had to adjust to D/L, so perhaps we could not go as hard as we would have liked. But I still thought that we could defend that.”

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