Glamorgan and Surrey draw at Cardiff

A NATO training exercise has seen squadrons of helicopters over the North Cardiff skyline as their pilots practice dropping aid parcels to troops on the ground. No such airborne assistance was needed by Glamorgan's foot soldiers yesterday at the SWALEC Stadium as they successfully battled to avoid the follow-on against Surrey with an enthralling couple of sessions, showcasing to an appreciative audience the magnificent and unpredictable game that is county cricket.

At 293/8 with Craig Meschede and Dean Cosker together in the middle, with 121 runs needed to avoid the follow-on and each batsman yet to score, the clever money was on the visitors quickly polishing off Glamorgan's resistance, especially as the ninth wicket pair only had a handful of fifties to their name in first-class cricket. But Meschede ripped up the form book as, together with his evergreen partner, they took Glamorgan to within two runs of being asked to bat again whereupon Cosker departed l.b.w. The mission though was duly accomplished by Meschede who then flicked the ball into the leg-side to complete a maiden first-class hundred, decorated with a series of powerful drives off his legs and forcing strokes square on the off-side.

The efforts of the ninth wicket pair meant that when play began this morning, the visitors were just 144 to the good, and with only 96 overs remaining, Surrey's only hopes of forcing a victory lay in quick runs before lunch, followed by an afternoon declaration and a helter-skelter run-chase by Glamorgan. Steven Davies and Rory Burns duly began the Surrey second innings with the former cover driving Andy Carter in his first over before the pair scampered some swift singles, but in his third over Graham Wagg pouched in his follow-through a miscued stroke from Rory Burns, with 16/1 seeing Kumar Sangakkara join Davies. The Sri Lankan began with a rare false stroke as he edged Carter through the slip cordon before square-driving the tall fast bowler for a more assured boundary.

The visitors continued to show positive intent as Sangakkara used his feet to advance down the wicket and loft Carter over long-on for four, before Davies played around a ball from Wagg as Surrey lost their second wicket on 41. This prompted the arrival of Kevin Pietersen to the middle with the former England batsman getting off the mark by flicking Wagg off his hips before Sangakkara upper cut the left-armer to third followed by a pair of graceful off-drives against Carter

Sangakkara then lofted Wagg straight for six as Pietersen continued to accumulate in singles as the pair continued to look for quick runs, but the introduction of Meschede at the River End ended the Sri Lankan's innings as he speared a ball straight into Cosker's hands at backward point. 78/3 saw Jason Roy arrive at the crease with his side leading by 222 runs and he was swiftly into his stride pulling Meschede for four.

Pietersen then did the same to a short ball from Lloyd whilst Roy deftly leg-glanced Meschede before sweeping Cosker's opening deliveries for a pair of fours as the 100 came up in the 16^th over. The over also saw Meschede spill a reverse-sweep by Roy before Pietersen switch-hit Cosker to deep backward point followed by a swatted four to square-leg against Meschede.

With the total on 121 Roy was acrobatically caught by Wagg at short extra cover as he tried to play a lofted drive against Cosker. Gary Wilson maintained the assertive tone as he slashed Meschede through backward point for four but later in the over Pietersen was nearly run out by Colin Ingram as Wilson attempted a quick single. The Irishman then danced down the wicket and lofted Cosker over deep extra cover for four.

After a period of just singles , Pietersen leg-glanced Lloyd for four before sweeping Cosker for four as the lead went past the 300-mark shortly before lunch.

Surrey resumed after lunch on 176/4 with a lead of 320 and 66 overs remaining in the day. Kevin Pietersen who had been quite circumspect at times before the interval and Gary Wilson duly faced a further seven overs from Graham Wagg and Dean Cosker before the declaration came at 2.05pm. During this short passage of play, Pietersen completed a 66-ball fifty by swatting Wagg to backward square-leg for two before Wilson brought up the 200 by lofting Cosker to long-on. Seven runs later Surrey declared leaving Glamorgan with a minimum of 57 overs in which to score 352.

Rudolph began by square-cutting Jade Dernbach for four and then clipping Matthew Dunn to the ropes at backward square-leg. James Kettleborough also struck an early boundary as he cut Dernbach through the gully for four shortly before Gareth Batty entered the fray at the Cathedral Road End. The Glamorgan openers continued their watchful accumulation as the spinner strove to gain some assistance from the worn surface, but there was little forthcoming as the two batsmen adopted a safety first approach.

Tom Curran and Zafar Ansari also had a spell before the interval, with the former being cut for three by Rudolph before Kettleborough nurdled him through the gully as the opening pair safely steered their side to the tea interval with a leg-glance by Rudolph to the ropes against Curran bringing up the 50-stand

When play resumed after tea with Glamorgan on 57/0 and with a minimum of 32 overs remaining after tea, the Welsh county still required 295 to win and a draw the only outcome. Jacques Rudolph and James Kettleborough duly took the opportunity of time in the middle as the chances of a positive outcome for either side evaporated into the clear blue skies and under the warm Spring sunshine which has bathed the ground throughout most of the contest .

Zafar Ansari and Jason Roy undertook the bowling duties as the game meandered quietly towards a draw, with Rudolph cutting Roy to third man and Kettleborough on-driving Ansari to the ropes in front of the Media Centre. Kettleborough also cut Roy through backward point whilst Rudolph drilled Ansari through extra cover before Gareth Batty briefly returned and was flicked to fine-leg by Kettleborough who then on-drove Ansari for four.

The very occasional bowlers had a twirl as Rory Burns was steered to point by Rudolph as the 100 came up in the 33^rd over shortly before the Glamorgan captain completed a 105-ball fifty with Kettleborough following suit from 108 deliveries shortly before the end and a result which keeps Glamorgan close to the top of the Division Two table with Lancashire's emphatic victory over Derbyshire seeing them leapfrog the Welsh county and into first place.