Morning Report

On an overcast and humid morning in the Welsh capital, the Severnide rivals locked horns in the Rothesay County Championship at Sophia Gardens, in a battle for the promotion places between 3rd and 4th in Division 2. Glamorgan's Sam Northeast, playing his 50th First-Class match for the Welsh county, won the toss and decided to put the visitors to bat first on a typical green and hard Sophia Gardens wicket this summer. 

In the second round of fixtures this season to be played with the Kookaburra ball, Gloucestershire openers Cameron Bancroft and Joe Phillips found it relatively easy to tackle to Glamorgan attack, which was opened by Timm van der Gugten and James Harris. The new-ball bowlers were seen off by the visiting batters, who started playing their strokes to change bowlers in Andy Gorvin and Zain ul Hassan. Shortly before lunch, Sam Northeast decided to go with spinners from both ends, with Ben Kellaway bowling from the River End, and Mason Crane, who was playing his first red-ball game at Sophia Gardens this season, operating from the Cathedral Road End. 

Ben Kellaway got the wicket of Joe Phillips 12 minutes before the lunch break, as the right-handed batter was caught down the leg-side by Chris Cooke for a well-made 38. Cameron Bancroft and Ollie Price settled for a defensive final four overs to ensure that the visitors headed for lunch with only one wicket down. At lunch on Day 1, Gloucestershire are 90-1.

Teatime Report

Tea will taste a lot sweeter for the Glamorgan players, as the afternoon session went exactly as planned, and more. Coming out to bat after lunch at 90-1, Gloucestershire batters would have hoped to carry on the momentum and pile on the runs, but Glamorgan bowlers had different plans. Timm van der Gugten changed ends and managed to trap Cameron Bancroft right in front of the stumps, as the Australian opener went far too across his stumps and was plumb in front of the stumps. 

However, it was Mason Crane who headlined the afternoon session with a classic leg-spinners' spell with the Kookaburra, just like his idol Shane Warne had done innumerable times in Test cricket. After smartly plotting the wicket of Miles Hammond, who was beaten with a leg-spinner and followed up with a wrong 'un the very next ball to find an outside edge to slip, Mason Crane came back to take the wicket of Graeme van Buuren the very next over, caught by Chris Cooke behind the stumps off an fine outside edge.

James Harris replaced Andy Gorvin from the Cathedral Road End, and the plan of having two mid-wicket fielders to Ollie Price worked, as the right-handed batter hit a short-ball straight into the hands of Kiran Carlson, who accepted the gift. Glamorgan kept the pressure going for the final half-hour before tea, but Gloucestershire managed to head into the dressing room with the score at 156-5.

Stumps Report

After a successful afternoon session, Glamorgan would be somewhat frustrated with the evening session, as James Bracey and Zaman Akhter's 96-run partnership for the 7th wicket ended the day well for the visitors from across the bridge. After the wicket of Ben Charlesworth early into the session, Glamorgan found it difficult to strike again as the sun came out in Cardiff, and Gloucestershire's counter-attack to a disciplined Glamorgan bowling attack left Sam Northeast out of options. 

Zaman Akhter took the aerial route to tackle the wizardry of Mason Crane, who was towards the end of a long spell from the River End, and decided to continue on the aggressive route to the fast bowlers. James Bracey instead played out most of the deliveries he faced, attacking only the poor deliveries, balancing the partnership from his end. The steady-yet-aggressive partnership between the left-hand and right-hand combination came as a delight to a handful of Gloucestershire fans at Sophia Gardens, who made their presence felt. 

Timm van der Gugten managed to finally break the partnership in the penultimate over of the day, as Zaman Akhter was trapped LBW in a delivery that stayed slightly low for the tall right-handed batter. Gloucestershire ended the first day at Sophia Gardens on 279-7 after being put to bat first.

Morning session

It was a humid and overcast morning in the Welsh capital, which was to be followed by what looked like the hottest day of the year in Cardiff. Glamorgan would have aimed to get out of the field by lunch, before the temperatures cross 25 degrees, and that's exactly what they did. Timm van der Gugten picked up the wickets of Todd Murphy and Ajeet Singh Dale within the opening 20 minutes of the day's play. However, that's when James Bracey decided to take matters into his own hands. 

The Bristol-born wicketkeeper-batter ensured that he kept most of the strike, and only left Archie Bailey with a ball or two to face every over. Timm van der Gugten, James Harris and Mason Crane all tried to get past the defence of Bracey, and particularly Bailey, but the 10th-wicket partnership kept going from strength to strength. James Bracey offered a chance to Glamorgan, pulling a van der Gugten short-ball straight to deep mid-wicket, only to get a lifeline off the home side. Bracey then scored his century and converted to T20 mode, getting Gloucestershire past 350. 

The partnership finally ended at 89, as Andy Gorvin caught a James Bracey skier at long-off off the bowling of Mason Crane, ending a fighting innings with the bat on 133. Glamorgan came out to bat for an over before the umpires and players went back into the dressing room for lunch, with Glamorgan's score on 0-0 after 1 over, trailing by 380 runs.

Teatime Report

A warm and sunny afternoon session saw Glamorgan lose three top-order wickets, thanks to some fast and hostile bowling from Ajeet Singh Dale, Zaman Akhter and Archie Bailey. Although Glamorgan scored 130 runs in the session, Gloucestershire's tea would taste sweeter knowing that they have taken the wickets of Zain ul Hassan, in-form batter Asa Tribe, vice-captain Kiran Carlson and the skipper Sam Northeast

Ajeet Singh Dale welcomed the Glamorgan batters back into the middle with some aggressive and disciplined fast bowling, backed up well by Zaman Akhter from the River End. Two of the three Glamorgan wickets fell to short-pitch bowling from the visiting pacers, caught at deep fine-leg. Both Zain ul Hassan and Kiran Carlson failed to keep their pull shot low to Ajeet Singh Dale and Archie Bailey respectively, proving the importance of pace especially with the Kookaburra ball. 

In the penultimate over before tea, Graeme van Buuren got the priceless wicket of Sam Northeast with a near-perfect left-arm spinners' delivery, kissing the off-stump and just about managing to dislodge the bail. At tea on Day 2, Glamorgan are on 128-4, trailing Gloucestershire's 1st innings total by 252 runs.

Morning Report

Perfection would be the word Glamorgan fans would use to describe the morning session on Day 2 at Sophia Gardens. Continuing their unbeaten 100-run partnership, the two batters took it to a different level before lunch, scoring at over 4 runs an over and taking Glamorgan close to the Gloucestershire 1st innings total. After the hour mark, it was Ben Kellaway who got to his century, his second First-Class hundred of the season, and his career. The young all-rounder played some free-flowing shots throughout the session, after a careful approach on Day 2. 

Colin Ingram scored his third First-Class hundred of the season not long after, as the South African-born left-hander pulled a Ben Charlesworth short-ball for four to bring up consecutive centuries in the County Championship, and against Gloucestershire, following up with his ton in Bristol in April. At lunch, Glamorgan are 365-4, trailing by only 15 runs, as Richard Dawson will want the pair to carry on till tea, who have already broken the record for the highest partnership for the 5th wicket against Gloucestershire.

Teatime Report

Glamorgan kept accumulating the runs in the afternoon session, albeit at a much slower rate to the morning session, due to the fall of the two centurions' wickets. Ben Kellaway and Colin Ingram tried to continue their aggressive approach, but some captaincy and quality short-ball bowling caused Ben Kellaway and Colin Ingram to lose their wickets to the pull and upper cut shots, respectively. Chris Cooke and Timm van der Gugten decided to sacrifice the 4th batting point, and instead held on to the crease to wither the storm of the fast bowling spell between Ajeet Singh Dale and Zaman Akhter. 

Towards the end of the afternoon session, both veteran cricketers finally started to find the boundary rope, as their partnership crossed 50 for the 7th wicket. The spinners came back on from both ends, but were met with confident strokes off the bat of Chris Cooke in particular, who finished the session just 9 short of his half-century. At tea on Day 3, Glamorgan ended on 456-6, with a lead of 76 runs to Gloucestershire's 1st innings.

Stumps Report

Glamorgan were finally dismissed for 528 in their 1st innings at Sophia Gardens, as the Gloucestershire spinners, led by Graeme van Buuren, took the tail-enders' wickets. The Welsh county ended with a lead of 148, leaving Gloucestershire all but to settle for a draw on the final day. Despite two close run-out chances, the visitors managed to end the day without losing any wickets in the final 11 overs of the session, seeing off a typical disciplined Timm van der Gugten spell with the new ball. 

Ben Kellaway and Andy Gorvin replaced van der Gugten and James Harris from the Cathedral Road End and River End respectively, and continued a disciplined Glamorgan bowling effort towards the end of day's play. Whilst a draw is the most likely scenario in this Kookaburra round at Sophia Gardens, Glamorgan might have a thing or two to say about that if they pick up wickets early on Day 4. At stumps on Day 3, Gloucestershire are 12-0 in their 2nd innings, trailing Glamorgan's 1st innings total by 136 runs. 

Morning Report

Another session to Glamorgan's name, as Gloucestershire keep holding on to save this match. When Mason Crane got injured on Day 2 and didn't show up to the field for Glamorgan's 2nd innings with the ball on Day 3, a draw was looking as a highly likely scenario, and even though there is still a high chance of that, Ben Kellaway and James Harris's spell in the morning session, which caused Gloucestershire a loss of three top-order wickets, has tilted the game slightly in favour of Glamorgan. 

Cameron Bancroft was the first batter to get out, as a classic James Harris nip-backer struck the Gloucestershire captain on his pads, and the umpire judged it to be hitting the stumps. Ben Kellaway took the second wicket, but it was all about Asa Tribe. Joe Phillips flicked a leg-stump delivery, and Asa Tribe stuck a hand out, and the ball popped up in the air off his right palm, only for the Jerseyman to dive back and accept a catch. Ollie Price lost his concentration towards the lunch interval, and went for an expansive drive off full and wide Ben Kellaway delivery, only to edge it to Chris Cooke. 

Gloucestershire will look to put on a more solid defensive display in the afternoon session, while Glamorgan will look to continue taking the wickets and hope for Mason Crane to potentially come out to bowl a few overs on a dry and turning pitch. At lunch on Day 4, Gloucestershire are 108-3, trailing by 40 runs. 

Teatime Report

Despite losing Graeme van Buuren's wicket, Gloucestershire did just enough in the afternoon session to avoid defeat at Sophia Gardens. Miles Hammond was solid in his defence, and also scored runs at every opportunity that he got, as James Bracey came out at no. 6 and continued batting like he did in the first innings. Glamorgan ended the session with Kiran Carlson and Asa Tribe bowling from opposite ends, signalling an end to the effort levels shown in the morning session, and understandably so. 

The Kookaburra ball, as it normally does, softened up further and failed to provide any movement off the flattened Sophia Gardens wicket. As the session went on, the ball came on nicely to the bat, signalling a tall order for the Glamorgan bowlers. At tea on Day 4, Gloucestershire are 194-4, leading by 46 runs.