Skipper Kiran Carlson led a ruthless Glamorgan batting display with a swashbuckling 73 as the Welsh county ended their Vitality Blast group campaign with a 50-run victory over Gloucestershire at the Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol.

The visitors plundered 235 for seven after winning the toss – the equal fourth highest T20 total in their history and the third biggest by any side in the format at Bristol – Carlson hitting six sixes in his 40 ball innings, while Will Smale smashed 54 off 28 deliveries and Ben Kellaway 47 off 22.

In reply, Gloucestershire were restricted to 185 all out, Dawid Malan top-scoring with 39 and D’Arcy Short making 35. There were two wickets each for Mason Crane, Dan Douthwaite and Kellaway in a comprehensive victory.

Despite their defeat, Gloucestershire still progressed to the knockout stage as one of the two best third-placed teams, and will take on Northamptonshire on Wednesday.

Carlson and Smale were in explosive form from the start on a hot afternoon, taking 66 off the six-over powerplay and bringing up a century stand in the ninth over. They were particularly severe on Gloucestershire loanee James Hayes, taking 22 off the fifth over of the innings.

Smale smacked a six and 8 fours before the partnership was broken by Short in the tenth over, Graeme van Buuren taking a high catch at mid-off. Carlson went to fifty off 31 balls and had helped take the score to 156 in the 14th over when stumped off a van Buuren wide.

Kellaway ensured there was no let-up for the Gloucestershire bowlers, clearing the ropes four times before being caught behind off Hayes, whose two overs cost 44 runs, and Sean Dickson added 22 off nine balls to take his side well beyond 200.

Batting conditions were near perfect on a road of a pitch and soon Gloucestershire openers Malan and Short were capitalising on the fast outfield, bringing up a half-century stand in 4.3 overs. By the end of the powerplay, the hosts were 67 for one, Short having departed for 35 to a catch at extra cover off Nathan McAndrew.

Crane put a brake on the scoring, conceding only four off the seventh over, which saw Miles Hammond caught in the deep off a reverse sweep. The leg-spinner struck again in his next over as Jack Taylor was caught behind at the second attempt by Chris Cooke attempting to cut.

Malan had faced 27 balls and struck 5 fours when bowled attempting to hit Douthwaite out of the ground and at the halfway stage of their innings Gloucestershire were 104 for four. Kamran Dhariwal and James Bracey kept the home side in it, both hitting Crane for straight sixes in the 13th over.

But Bracey holed out to long-off for 22, Kellaway the successful bowler, and when Dhariwal quickly followed for 27 off 15 balls, well caught by the diving Carlson at point off Andy Gorvin, the task of scoring nearly 15 an over proved too great. A belligerent 28 from van Buuren proved too little too late.