185 by Ben Duckett saw Northamptonshire to 305/7 declared on the second day of their Specsavers County Championship match against Glamorgan at Wantage Road, as they left the visitors a target of 451 to win after Rob Keogh had earlier taken career-best figures of 9/52 as the Welsh county were dismissed in the morning session for 124.
Evening Report
After ten wickets had tumbled in the morning session, just two fell between lunch and tea as the surface gave less assistance to the visiting bowlers, with Northants reaching 168/2 at the interval and a healthy lead of 313 runs.
Rob Keogh began the session by cover-driving Owen Morgan for four whilst Ben Duckett continued to work the ball around. Keogh then square-cut Morgan for four before lofting him over long-on for six. He then turned his attention to Graham Wagg who he dispatched over long-off for four as he reached 1.000 runs in the competition this summer. He celebrated by reverse-sweeping Wagg for four before completing his 150 from 134 balls with a sharp single into the covers.
Kiran Carlson then returned at the Lynn Wilson End hoping to reproduce yesterday’s magic but he was swept for a pair of fours by Duckett. Keogh also swept the debutant to fine-leg before on-driving him to wide long-on to bring up the century stand. But later in the over the stand ended as Keogh attempted a quick single against Carlson, but was sent back by Duckett and run out for 40.
243/3 saw Steven Crook make his way to the middle where Duckett continued to play freely as he cover drove Hogan before harpooning three successive balls from Wagg for four to mid-wicket as the lead went past 400. But van der Gugten then returned at the Pavilion End and ended Duckett’s run spree as he miscued a drive to Hogan at mid-off.
Crook maintained the impetus by slashing the Dutchman for four, but next over Saif Zaib miscued a drive against Wagg and spooned a catch to David Lloyd at short extra-cover. With David Murphy as his new partner, Crook drilled van der Gugten over mid-off for four before swatting him twice through point as the lead approached the 450-mark, but next over his aggressive innings was ended by Wagg as the batsman miscued to short extra-cover where Will Bragg completed the regulation catch.
Rory Kleinveldt was then bowled by Morgan before Northants declared on 305/7 to leave Glamorgan with a target of 451 runs to win and three overs remaining in the day’s quota. Owen Morgan and Jacques Rudolph safely negotiated the eighteen deliveries as Glamorgan ended on 0/0.
Teatime update
The morning session had seen Glamorgan dramatically lose all ten wickets as Rob Keogh returned the sixth-best bowling figures against Glamorgan in Championship cricket and the best since Wayne Daniel claimed 9/61 for Middlesex at Swansea in 1982.
But the afternoon session was in direct contrast as Northants extended their lead of 145 with Ben Duckett and Rob Newton sharing a century stand. Timm van der Gugten and Kiran Carlson opened the bowling with Duckett cover droving the Dutchman as well as edging a drive to the ropes at third man against the debutant.
Duckett then survived a chance as an edge against van der Gugten was adjudged not to have carried into Wallace’s gloves, with the opener responding by straight driving the fast bowler for four. Next over, the opener under-edged a cut for four against the Dutchman before pulling successive balls from the teenager for four and six.
With the home side on 38/0, Owen Morgan entered the attack and Duckett went down the wicket to the left-armer and drove him straight for six. The fifty then came up as Duckett swept Carlson for four before completing a 30-ball fifty as he square-drove the young off-spinner who then made way for Michael Hogan at the Lynn Wilson End
Newton steered the Australian through backward point for four before reverse-sweeping Morgan for four. He then rode his luck as he outside-edged an expansive drive against Hogan before drilling the seamer through mid-off for another four. An orthodox sweep for four then followed against Morgan as the century stand came up in the 17th over, but Hogan ended Newton’s stay at the crease as he edged a pull into Wallace’s gloves.
But Duckett continued his assault on the visiting bowling as he welcomed the return of Timm van der Gugten by cover-driving the Dutchman. Alex Wakely also straight-drove Morgan for six before Graham Wagg entered the attack in spin mode at the Lynn Wilson End. But Duckett continued to find the ropes as he pulled van der Gugten for four to complete an 81-ball hundred to further consolidate Northants’ ascendancy.
Wakely celebrated by sweeping Wagg for four but three balls later he departed l.b.w. with the total on 141 and his side 286 runs ahead. Keogh replaced him at the crease and began by on-driving van der Gugten for four, before Duckett morphed into T20 mode by reverse-sweeping both Wagg and Morgan, who returned shortly before tea at the Pavilion End.
Lunchtime Report
A fortnight ago, 18 year-old Kiran Carlson was collecting his A-level results from Whitchurch High School, and hearing that his A grades in Maths, Physics and Chemistry had secured a place to read Civil Engineering at Cardiff University from September 2017. Yesterday at Wantage Road, the teenage off-spinner produced an A* performance by taking 5/28 on his first-class debut and returning the best-ever figures on debut by a spinner for the Welsh county as Northamptonshire nosedived from 140-0 to 269 all out on a wicket which is already assisting the slower bowlers.
It was also the first `five-for` by a spinner for Glamorgan since Dean Cosker took 5/97 at Worcester in July 2014, with Kiran’s efforts in seemingly helpful conditions allowing the Welsh county to claw their way back into the game after the home side had raced to 140/0 before lunch. Glamorgan were looking for a decent start as Jacques Rudolph and Nick Selman faced Northamptonshire’s K-men, seamer Rory Kleinveldt and spinner Rob Keogh who resumed in tandem.
But wickets were soon falling as Keogh struck in the fourth over of the day as Selman was caught at bat-pad as he propped forward to the off-spinner. 26/1 then became 28/2 as Will Bragg was adjudged l.b.w. as he also played forward to Keogh. David Lloyd announced his arrival with some assertive singles as well as an off-driven four against Keogh.
On 42/2 Graeme White’s left-arm spin replaced Kleinveldt’s seam with the bowler being reverse-swept for an all-run four by Rudolph, who two balls later repeated the stroke as the 50 came up in the 22nd over, but on 52 Lloyd advanced down the wicket against Keogh, missed the ball and was bowled as Northants gained their first bowling point.
Aneurin Donald also adopted an assertive approach, twice sweeping White but he then repeated the stroke against Keogh and top-edged the ball to Chad Barrett who caught the ball at backward square-leg. With Carlson as his fifth partner of the opening hour, Rudolph unfurled another high-class cover drive against White, but next over – and with the score on 71 - he lost his young colleague who miscued a sweep to Barrett at short fine-leg.
Graham, Wagg drilled his first delivery straight for four before becoming Keogh’s sixth victim as next ball he edged to Zaib at bat-pad. 75/6 then became 77/7 as Rudolph edged White to leg-slip where Steven Crook held a good low catch. Mark Wallace and Owen Morgan then joined forces with the former clipping White to mid-wicket, before Morgan swept Keogh for four to square-leg
Wallace then edged a drive against Keogh to third man for another all-run four as the Glamorgan total passed the 100-mark and came closer to avoiding the follow-on. But with sixteen still needed, Morgan departed l.b.w. to Keogh. Timm van der Gugten announced his arrival at the crease by driving White to mid-wicket for four but next over he was caught at the wicket as he became Keogh’s eighth victim. 110/9 saw Michael Hogan join Wallace and he swatted Keogh for three through point before edging a drive against White for two, followed by a cover drive for two, and a single to mid-on. The Australian then square-cut Keogh for four to avoid the follow-on, but with the total on 124 Keogh struck again as he bowled Hogan to complete figures of 9/52 to break Vallance Jupp's record of 8/18 at Swansea in 1925