Gammon’s crucial knock helps Glamorgan avoid a giant-killing

T20 County Cup: Glamorgan (140/8) beat Devon (129/5) by 11 runs

Newport International Sports Village is a truly impressive development. Here you can play and watch a myriad of different sports in one place. There is the Geraint Thomas Velodrome for cycling, there is the Newport Stadium for Rugby, football and athletics, there is a competition level swimming pool and there are two adjoining cricket pitches at Newport Cricket Club, with a triangular scoreboard with faces that can be seen from either cricket pitch alongside a reasonably-sized pavilion.

This was the venue where the 2026 T20 County Cup got under way today. Glamorgan, the Tier 2 side predestined for promotion this season were drawn against Devon, the Tier 3 side who last season hosted Warwickshire in the third round of this competition, and had Davina Perrin and her teammates in all sorts of trouble at Budleigh Salterton before finally succumbing to a 38-run defeat. 

Last year’s competition also saw the Devonians defeat Dorset and Suffolk on their way to the third round, so there are no strangers to the “magic of the cup” and today’s fixture gave them the opportunity to see how they would match up against a Tier 2 opponent, having only faced Tier 1 and Tier 3 last year.

In their team is Amelie Munday, who played six T20 Blast fixtures for Somerset last season before being released over the winter and Elle Golsworthy, who hit an unbeaten half century in this competition against Warwickshire last season.

Glamorgan, who got to the Metro Bank One Day Cup final last season, have started 2026 with comprehensive wins against both Leicestershire and Gloucestershire, with decisive contributions with the bat by Lauren Parfitt in both games.

Devon won the toss and chose to field. Naomi Hillman-Bermejo opened the bowling with a tidy over of leg spin, but it was the introduction of Maddie Russell with her left arm medium pace bowling in the second over that brought the breakthrough that the Devonians were looking for.

Lauren Parfitt, Glamorgan’s strongest batter so far this season tried to hit over mid-off, but only found the grateful hands of Devon skipper Steph Hutchins. Glamorgan’s response, and particularly that of their other opening batter, Daisy Jeanes, was to hit out aggressively for the rest of the power play. Jeanes in particular targeted the right arm medium pacer Esther Woolley, her first two overs going for 24 runs. 

Having reached 52/1 by the end of the powerplay, Glamorgan could have confidently aimed for a score in excess of 160, but, as often happens, the end of the powerplay fielding restriction brought about a reversal of fortunes for the batting side. Jeanes tried to cut a ball which was too close to her and played on after a spritely 36 from 22 balls.

What followed can only be described as a parade of ducks, as Ellis, Westley and Jackson all failed to score any runs over the course of the 15 balls that they faced between them, Ellis’ leading edge giving the simplest of caught and bowled chances to Hillman-Berjemo, Westley followed in the next over, clean bowled by Amelie Munday and in the 10^th over Eve Jackson followed, desperately trying to get off the mark from her 9^th ball, she was clean bowled by Devon captain Steph Hutchins.

So, at the half way point of Glamorgan’s innings, they were 58/5, having added 6 runs and lost 4 wickets in the 4 overs since the end of the powerplay. We were now entering “giant-killing” territory. Could lowly Devon, of Tier 3, really defeat Tier 1-bound Glamorgan?

The next phase of the game involved really good and clever cricket from both sides. Devon were bowling and fielding as if their lives depended upon it. Maggie Haffenden was doing a magnificent job patrolling the boundary in front of the pavilion. Maddie Russell stopped a certain boundary at long on, expertly rolling as she dived to pick up the ball and throw it to the keeper in one movement.

Devon were adding pressure as Glamorgan sought to extract themselves from a precarious situation. It seemed a curiously long time since a boundary had been scored. The response from Beth Gammon and Gemma Porter was to run.

Each over they made sure that they squeezed out singles and twos and, when the chance came, they started to find the boundary. Suddenly, in the 15^th and 16^th overs, the floodgates opened for them and they mercilessly took 32 runs from Hillman-Bermejo and Russell, Porter lofting Hillman-Bermejo for the day’s only six, just over the fielder at deep mid-wicket. The score, which had previously been moving like a snail, had suddenly accelerated from 83/5 to 115/5 in the blink of an eye.

Gammon reached her 50 before Ellie Bishop deceived Porter with her right arm off-spin, the ball flying to the grateful hands of Regina Lili’i at mid-wicket. All that remained of the innings was for Gammon to steer her team to the end of the 20^th over and face as many balls as possible. When she did get on strike for the final three balls of the innings, she dispatched two of them to the boundary to finish on 60 not out from a total of 140/8. Certainly not as many runs as Glamorgan would have been hoping for, but many more than it looked like when they were 58/5 at the half way point.

Devon’s job was now to chase down 141 for a historic victory. Opening the batting were Amelie Munday and Elle Golsworthy. They went about their business cautiously and sensibly. Anna-Mae Shearn was generating the sort of pace I imagine one does not often see at Tier 3 level. There was a certain amount of playing and missing as they adjusted to what was required.

A poor mis-field by Poppy Walker in the second over gifted a boundary and helped inject some momentum into the chase. Shearn sent down five venomous dot balls in her second over, but the bouncer she sent down as her sixth ball was bravely swatted away for four by Golsworthy. Munday was using her feet well, pushing back-foot shots through the covers to find the boundary. In the sixth over, the partnership was broken, Munday adjudicated out LBW when trying to turn Katy Cobb towards fine leg.

At the end of the powerplay, Devon were 34/1. Golsworthy and new batter, Jemima Vereker, continued in the same vein, batting sensibly at around a run a ball, so that after 12 overs, Devon were handily placed at 67/1. Golsworthy clearly recognised that more risks needed to be taken if they were to win the game. She had already been dropped by Ellis when trying to heave the ball to the mid-wicket boundary and in the 13^th over, she took one risk too many as she was bowled trying to reverse sweep Cobb. 

With 55 needed from the final 5 overs, both Vereker and Hillman-Bermejo sacrificed their wickets in pursuit of runs and with 52 runs needed from the last four overs, Glamorgan could start to feel a bit more comfortable. Regina Lili’I and Ellie Bishop fought defiantly until the final ball, taking 12 runs from the final over to leave Glamorgan as victors by only 11 runs.

It felt like Glamorgan had little to celebrate. Katie Cobb and Jazz Westley were the pick of their bowlers. But it was Beth Gammon’s match-winning innings which had saved them from a humiliation.

For Devon, they left with heads held high. Amelie Munday is clearly capable of playing at a higher level than Tier 3 if she wanted to. Maggie Hafenden looks more than a useful player and Elle Golsworthy clearly likes to raise her game in the T20 County Cup when playing superior opposition.

Glamorgan will play either Wiltshire or Berkshire in the second round on the weekend of 17^th May.