A disciplined bowling and fielding performance saw Glamorgan record a nine-wicket victory over Worcestershire midway through the third afternoon of their Specsavers County Championship match at New Road after the home side were dismissed for 129 in their second innings with Michael Hogan taking 5/38.
End of Match Report
Worcestershire were just five runs ahead with four wickets remaining when play resumed after lunch but thoughts of a stubborn fightback were snuffed out as Glamorgan swiftly ended their innings in the space of five and a half overs.
The procession of men back to the pavilion began in the second over after the interval as Joe Clarke chopped a ball from Michael Hogan onto his stumps. Next over Lukas Carey found the edge of Ross Whiteley’s bat with Aneurin Donald at fourth slip completing the regulation catch.
Josh Tongue nearly edged a ball from Hogan into the hands of second slip, but he was less fortunate in the next over as he feathered a ball from Carey into Cooke’s gloves before two overs later Hogan bowled Nathan Lyon as his fellow countryman attempted to biff the ball in the direction of the Cathedral as the last four wickets tumbled for ten runs in the space of 5.3 overs.
This left Glamorgan needing just sixteen to win and it took the Welsh county just 8.5 overs to reach their target for the loss of Nick Selman who was bowled by Ed Branard with his side just two runs away from victory. Next over Jacques Rudolph cover drove Joe Leach for four to seal victory, appropriately accompanied with a peel of bells from the Cathedral at 3pm as for the first time since June 2015 the Welsh county had recorded back-to-back wins in the Championship, having two years ago completed a sequence which saw the Welsh county record victories over Essex, Northamptonshire, Surrey and Leicestershire .
Lunchtime report
With the Sunday newspapers full of stories about post-election coalitions, it was rather fitting that Glamorgan’s cricketers should yesterday demonstrate the importance of strong and firm partnerships as two remarkable stands saw the Welsh county recover from a potentially perilous position of 58/6 to secure a first innings lead of 114. Firstly Jacques Rudolph shared a seventh wicket partnership of 168 with Chris Cooke, and after both departed in the space of six balls, the riposte continued in dramatic fashion during the afternoon as Andrew Salter and Lukas Carey each posted career-best scores as they added a further 124 for the ninth wicket with a flurry of savage blows.
During their jaunty stand, Salter lashed Barnard for three successive fours, before striking a massive straight six onto the roof of the New Road stand. Carey lost nothing in comparison as he firmly struck the ball to the ropes, with the youngster reaching his maiden fifty with a savage pull for four which left square-leg umpire Michael Gough and a fielder each flat on their back as they took evasive action as the ball sped to the boundary boards. Michael Hogan then made early inroads to remove Daryl Mitchell, who had come into this match having scored centuries in each of the last three games..
When bad light ended play early, the home side were still 80 runs in arrears and when play resumed this morning, with 104 overs in the daily allocation to make up time from last night, Glamorgan were hoping that the momentum shift would continue in their favour. Tom Fell on-drove Hogan for four after the seamer had switched to the Pavilion End before Brett D’Oliveira cover drove both the red ball captain and Timm van der Gugten who opened at the Diglis End.
Fell also square-drove van der Gugten for four but with the total on 54, Hogan trapped D’Oliveira with a delivery which wickedly jagged back in to the opener’s pads. Joe Clarke began by cover-driving both bowlers, before Lukas Carey returned to bowl at the New Road End. Hogan then switched to the Diglis End and with his first ball deceived Clarke into driving the ball in the air to cover where Will Bragg held the ball high above his head.
75/3 then became 82/4 as Ben Cox edged Carey to first slip where Colin Ingram held a juggling catch. Ross Whiteley began by pulling Andrew Salter for four as Glamorgan switched to spin at the Diglis End. Fell repeated the stroke against Carey as Worcestershire limped to the 100-mark in the 34th over, but seven runs later, van der Gugten returned at the Pavilion End and removed Fell who edged to first slip where Ingram held another catch, before the Dutchman struck in his next over as Ed Barnard was caught behind by Chris Cooke.
Joe Leach wiped off the arrears as he greeted the return of Hogan at the Diglis End by steering him through backward point for four.