Will Bragg (72) and Jim Allenby (54*) saw Glamorgan make 210/6 before declaring at tea on the final day of their two-day friendly against Gloucestershire at the SWALEC Stadium, with the match ending in a draw with the visitor's on 36/2 in their second innings.
After yesterday's curtailment because of rain, Gloucestershire declared on their overnight total of 111/3 and when play got underway it was Gareth Rees and Will Bragg who began Glamorgan's first innings. Will Gidman and Ian Saxelby duly opened the bowling, but the latter departed after pulling up in his run-up during his third over.
With the total on 6 Gidman made the breakthrough as Rees edged into Gareth Roderick's gloves. He might have secured a second scalp with his next delivery as Stewart Walters sparred at a rising delivery which just evaded the grasp of the gully fielder, but two balls later he trapped the batsman leg before as Glamorgan lost their second wicket with the total on 7. Will Bragg, who had earlier cover-driven Gidman, then repeated the stroke to good effect twice in Craig Miles' fourth over .
Bragg then despatched Liam Norwell to the ropes at square-leg before savagely pulling a short ball from Matt Taylor. He then unleashed a regal cover drive in the seamer's next over, followed by a crisp flick through mid-wicket, but with the total on 41, Ben Wright edged Norwell into Chris Dent's hands at second slip.
Bragg duly brought up the fifty by leg-glancing Gidman who returned to the fray before Chris Cooke deftly guided the all-rounder to the vacant third man boundary. He then on-drove Gidman for another boundary before despatching Jack Taylor's first delivery for four through extra cover, whilst Bragg completed his fifty from 98 balls by despatching Miles for another boundary through the off-side.
Cooke then found the cover boundary immediately after lunch as he square drove the first ball of the session from Matt Taylor and duly brought up the fifty stand from sixteen overs. After another pair of imperious drives off the back foot through the covers by Bragg, Cooke flicked Matt Taylor to the square-leg fence. Bragg also unfurled a booming off-drive in Miles' next over before two balls later despatching him again off the back foot through extra cover.
The pair had added 77 in 20 overs when Cooke was trapped leg before by Miles for 42, and next ball Bragg might have also departed but a thick outside edge from his bat evaded the outstretched gloves of Gareth Roderick. However, two balls he also departed l.b.w. for 72 as Matt Taylor gained his first victim with Glamorgan on 122/5.
Jim Allenby duly announced his arrival with three boundaries in four balls from Miles, all elegantly driven through the off-side, and followed by a crisp cover drive in the next over from the young seamer. He added another boundary to his tally as he greeted the return of Gidman by despatching him to the ropes as Glamorgan reached the 150-mark, accompanied by plenty of Spring sunshine in what is the earliest-ever inter-county match in Wales.
After some patient reconnaissance, Mark Wallace also unfurled a crisp cover drive against Norwell but next over he advanced down the wicket to Jack Taylor and was stumped by Roderick. With the total on 158, Graham Wagg joined Allenby and nonchalantly deposited the spinner over long-on for six and four in successive balls. Allenby also harpooned Taylor into the stands at long-on and deep mid-wicket before completing his half-century from 62 balls.
Glamorgan declared at tea leaving Gloucestershire with a maximum of two hours batting but a light shower of rain fell during the interval and delayed the resumption by fifteen minutes. Ruadhri Smith and John Glover shared the new ball as Chris Dent and Will Tavare looked to take the opportunity of further practice, but after each batsman had scored a couple of boundaries, Tavare was caught and bowled by John Glover as he bent down to his right in his follow through.
Three balls later 18/1 became 18/2 as Glover trapped Matt Taylor l.b.w. but Dent steadied the ship with a pair of fours - the first to long-leg off the inside edge and the second from the middle through extra cover. As the light started to deteriorate, play continued for a couple of overs before the contest ended shortly after 5pm.
Please a scorecard for the match is available on the Total Cricket Scorer website at http://www.totalcricketscorer.com/TCSLive/tcslivescores.aspx . Please select U.K., Wales and Glamorgan in the option menu.