Morning Report
After a strong end to Day 2, Northants batters had a fine start to the morning on Day 3, as Luke Procter found the gaps and hit boundaries at regular intervals to get the scoreboard ticking. However, close to the hour's mark, Timm van der Gugten bowled that typical magic ball, which has gotten him wickets on many previous occasions, to find the outside edge of James Sales. The Australian-born Dutch international got the ball to move just a fraction later than Sales would have liked, as the Northants batter was forced to play it, managing to find the edge.
Asitha Fernando replaced James Harris from the Cathedral Road End, and bowled another brilliant spell of fast bowling for the fans to see on a sunny Sophia Gardens. Beating the outside edge of Luke Procter and Rob Keogh, the Sri Lankan international asked all the right questions, testing the defence of the Northants batters. Fernando finally managed to find the outside edge of Rob Keogh, whose troubled stay at the crease was brought to an end with Chris Cooke accepting the edge. Glamorgan bowlers kept their discipline and bowled well in the second bour of the morning session, as Northants got to 147-5 at lunch on Day 3, trailing Glamorgan's first-innings score by 92 runs.
Teatime Report
Two more wickets in the afternoon session gets Glamorgan closer to a win at Sophia Gardens, despite Northants batters making the most of a much flattened Day 3 pitch. Luke Procter held the crease and ensured the visitors were still in the game, and even managed to get support from Saif Zaib. Soon after completing a 50-run partnership, Asitha Fernando made something out of nothing, and produced an edge off captain Procter, whose fine stay across the two innings at the Home of Welsh Cricket was put to an end.
Saif Zaib carried on where Luke Procter had left off, and was well supported by Lewis McManus, as the 7th wicket partnership started to exhaust Glamorgan bowlers. However, James Harris came in from the River End shortly before the tea break, and produced an edge off a well-settled Saif Zaib, whose edge carried to Sam Northeast with pace and height, surprising the Glamorgan captain who got hit in the chest with the ball before grabbing it with his fingers. At Tea on Day 3, Northants 229-7, trailing Glamorgan's first-innings total by 10 runs.
FINAL REPORT
Glamorgan produced a second consecutive wins the Rothesay County Championship, again inside three days, to go up to the second position of the Division 2 table.
It was a comfortable win for Glamorgan, as the Welsh county secured 23 points to go up to the promotion places of Division 2, much to the delight of captain Sam Northeast and coach Richard Dawson. After winning the toss and choosing the bat first, Northamptonshire were bundled out for 185 in their first innings, thanks to a remarkable recovery by Glamorgan bowlers, who were looking second best at lunch on Day 1 when the visitors were 99-1. The comeback had all the bowlers chipping in with at least two wickets, making it a complete team performance.
It was a shaky start for Glamorgan with the bat, as Harry Conway and Ben Sanderson ran through the top three batters, leaving Glamorgan at 48-3 at one stage. Sam Northeast and Kiran Carlson managed to see off Day 1, along with starting Day 2 on a positive note, with the white-ball captain Carlson getting past his half-century. Ben Kellaway came in at no. 6 and batted as if he had known that pitch for days, scoring at almost a run-a-ball in his outstanding knock of 95, off just 104 balls. A solid contribution by Timm van der Gugten at no. 8, scoring his second half-century of the season, left Northants trailing Glamorgan's first-innings total by a mammoth 239 runs.
The evening session on Day 2 was led by Andy Gorvin, who got two wickets in three balls towards the end of day's play, to restrict Northants to 49-3 in their 2nd innings, leaving the visitors on the brink of an innings defeat. However, Day 3's wicket was much kinder to the Northants batters, as the sun-baked pitch got drier and harder, making the ball come onto the bat with relative ease. But Glamorgan's spirited bowling attack kept bending their backs with the ball and asked the batters all sorts of questions, picking up wickets at regular intervals. Despite a late charge by Saif Zaib, who scored a quick 50 coming in at no. 7, the fast bowling attack of Timm van der Gugten, James Harris, Asitha Fernando, Andy Gorvin and Zain ul Hassan kept giving their all and eventually got Northants all out for 304.
Chasing a target of 66, Glamorgan got off to a shaky start, with Zain ul Hassan and Marnus Labuschagne losing their wickets with the score on 6. However, Asa Tribe and Sam Northeast saw the Welsh county through the new-ball bowling attack of Harry Conway and Ben Sanderson to register a 8-wicket victory inside three days of the match.
VIEW SCORECARD