Gloucestershire defeated Glamorgan by ten wickets shortly before the close of the third day of their Specsavers County Championship match at The SSE SWALEC after the Welsh county were dismissed for 232 in their second innings. This left the West Country side with a victory target of 90 runs which they reached in 19.4 overs.
Close of Play Report.
Having dismissed Glamorgan for 232, Gloucestershire had 29 overs remaining in the day’s quota, plus a hypothetical 96 tomorrow in which to get the 90 runs they required to emulate Northamptonshire’s achievements last week of completing a home and away double over the Welsh county in red-ball cricket.
Gareth Roderick began by cover-driving Graham Wagg before he and Dent scurried a series of singles. Dent then greeted the introduction of Michael Hogan into the attack by flicking him to mid-wicket for four. After four overs of swing, Wagg switched to spin and was lofted straight for six by Dent. Kiran Carlson then bowled in tandem with Owen Morgan, with Dent drilling Carlson through the covers for three before Roderick twice biffed the teenager to long-on as well as punching him through extra cover for four.
Craig Meschede also had a trundle as the opening pair eased towards their target with Dent pulling Morgan for four to the ropes at mid-wicket followed by a square-cut for four by Roderick against the left-arm spinner. Roderick also harpooned Morgan for six to complete a 56-ball fifty before Roderick pulled Morgan for four as Gloucestershire completed victory shortly before 5pm.
Teatime Report
Glamorgan had reached 76/3 at lunch, still 67 runs in arrears as the afternoon session began with Aneurin Donald and Will Bragg facing the bowling of Jack Taylor and Josh Shaw. Donald, buoyed by reaching his personal landmark of 1,000 first-class runs before lunch, began with a fluent straight drive against Shaw before peppering third slip with a pair of edges from successive deliveries, each of which just fell short of the fielder.
Donald also twice clipped Shaw to mid-wicket before Bragg upper cut the Yorkshireman to third man for four. But the young batsman perished against Taylor as he edged the spinner to first slip where Hamish Marshall completed a low catch. 98/4 then became 99/5 as Kiran Carlson edged Shaw into Mustard’s gloves. Graham Wagg responded by lofting Taylor straight for successive sixes.
Bragg then punched Shaw off the back foot through extra cover before Wagg unfurled a languid on-drive for four against the seamer, followed by a cheeky cut to third man. But in Taylor’s next over, Wagg was bowled by the off-spinner as Glamorgan slipped to 126/6 still 17 runs in arrears as Craig Meschede made his way to the middle. After edging David Payne just short of first slip, Meschede cover drove and on-drove Taylor for a pair of fours.
Meschede then drilled Payne through mid-off for four to wipe off the arrears but in the seamer’s next over he perished as – with the total on 153 – he pulled a short ball straight into Jack Taylor’s hands on the square-leg boundary. With Mark Wallace as his new partner, Bragg completed his fifty from 87 balls , whilst Wallace began with a firm straight drive for four against Payne. But later in the over Bragg was bowled as he inside-edged Payne onto his stumps as Glamorgan slipped further to 162/8.
Timm van der Gugten opened his account with a meaty on-drive for four against Taylor, whilst Wallace square-drove Payne for four. But with the total on 174 van der Gugten edged Payne to Will Tavare at second slip who completed a juggling catch. Michael Hogan began by cover-driving Payne for four before straight-driving Matt Taylor when he re-joined the attack. In the left-armer’s next over he nearly holed out at mid-off before Wallace steered the bowler through point and the gully for a braceof fours.
Wallace also swept Jack Taylor for four before Hogan defiantly drilled Matt Taylor through the covers for four, followed by an upper cut over the slips. A scampered single then brought up the fifty stand which Hogan celebrated by lofting Jack Taylor for six into the River Stand, But the spinner bowled the Australian next delivery as Glamorgan ended on 232.
Morning Report
New Zealanders took the headlines in the Welsh capital yesterday with confirmation that Warren Gatland would be Head Coach of the British and Irish Lions next summer to New Zealand, whilst at The SSE SWALEC Hamish Marshall, the veteran Kiwi batsman on his final match on Welsh soil, posted a cultured 101 to help Gloucestershire secure a useful first innings lead of 127 runs.
Marshall was eventually dismissed when Glamorgan took the new ball in mid-afternoon but there was further resistance from the tail as David Payne posted an unbeaten fifty – his second against the Welsh county and making the home side rue a missed stumping chance when he was in single figures.
Play began with Gloucestershire on 347/8 but it immediately became 347/9 as Michael Hogan had Josh Shaw caught down the leg-side by Mark Wallace to the fourth delivery of the day. With Matt Taylor as his new partner, Payne scythed van der Gugten through point for four before Taylor upper cut Hogan over second slip for another boundary. But in his next over, Hogan ended the innings as Taylor edged to Wallace giving Hogan the exemplary figures of 25.1-12-36-5.
This meant that Glamorgan faced a deficit on first innings of 143 runs as Nick Selman and Owen Morgan began their second innings. The former began by gliding David Payne to third man for four before the latter cover drove the opening bowler, followed by another steer through the gully for four as well as a firmly-struck off-drive against Shaw. But with the total on 22, Shaw yorked Morgan before three balls later Selman edged Payne into Mustard’s gloves as Glamorgan slipped to 22/2
Will Bragg and David Lloyd joined forces with the latter fiercely square-cutting Shaw to the ropes before the former off-drove Craig Miles for four, followed by a crisp flick off his legs to square-leg against Taylor. Bragg also clipped Miles to the ropes at fine-leg as Glamorgan reached the 50-mark but three runs later, Lloyd departed to Matt Taylor as wicket-keeper Phil Mustard completed a juggling catch in front of second slip
Aneurin Donald duly joined Bragg who twice on-drove Miles to the mid-wicket boundary before Jack Taylor had a couple of overs shortly before lunch with Donald cover-driving the spinner for a pair of fours - the first of which saw him become the first Glamorgan batsman to reach 1,000 first-class runs and the youngest to the landmark. .