By Matt Somerford
Glamorgan captain Jim Allenby wants to exact revenge over NatWest Blast South Group leaders Essex Eagles when they meet at the SWALEC Stadium on Friday night.
The Eagles claimed a thrilling four-wicket win earlier this season at the Essex County Ground when they chased down Glamorgan’s 189 for six.
“We feel like we should have won there when we played them earlier in the season,” Allenby told ecb.co.uk.
“Fair play to them they chased down a pretty big score and had got dominated with some pretty big overs – biggest of all off me (Allenby’s 3.4 overs cost 56).
“They are pretty hard to stop when they are at the top of their game. They have match-winners from one to 11.
“It will be a really good test for us at home.”
Glamorgan have been the entertainers of the Blast this season with nine of their 10 completed matches going down to the final over – while four have been decided from the last ball.
“That Chelmsford game was another game that we’ve taken to the last over,” Allenby said,
“We know we have to stay focused the full 40 overs in these sorts of games. We’ve proved over the course of the year that we can do that and deliver wins.”
Glamorgan could move a step close to a rare quarter-final place with victory over the Eagles, who are themselves looking to confirm a home last-eight tie.
Glamorgan has only ever progressed from the group stage twice, in 11 Twenty20 campaigns, and Allenby believes an aggressive approach has been key to that.
The Welsh county have enjoyed breakthrough wins at Somerset – for the first time in 10 years – Hampshire and Surrey and knocking off the Eagles would represent another major scalp.
“It’s possible to beat them if we go hard at them,” Allenby said.
“If we do that and play as we do then we should cause them problems.
“We know that if they are right up for it and at the top of their game then realistically we will probably struggle.
“There will be a lot to play for and for us we are just targeting fourth and getting through.
“I think if we win two of our last three then we’ll make the quarter-finals. If we only win one we might be in trouble and we’ll have to rely on others.”
Essex head coach Paul Grayson wants his side to claim a tournament record and win 13 of their 14 group stage games.
"We know that one point will guarantee us a home quarter-final but we want to keep our winning run going and finish top of the group" he told the club's official website. "Our target is to win 13 matches out of 14 and set a new record.
"Obviously, we've played really well, all the players have made such positive contributions towards our success in this competition and it's important that we retain the confidence these performances have given us.
"We are in the quarter-finals and one win away from another finals day appearance but that's for the future, at the moment, we are focussed on adding to our excellent record this season in this format of the game."