Glam face uphill task as bowlers left to toil

RICARDO Vasconcelos hit a magnificent unbeaten 166, his ninth first-class century and his first in two years, as he indulged his liking for Glamorgan’s bowlers on day two of this Vitality County Championship match at Wantage Road.

He shared a partnership of 191 in 52 overs with his captain Luke Procter (65) and a stand of 103 with Karun Nair (55), who passed 7,000 career first-class runs in the process as Northamptonshire closed on 314 for two in reply to Glamorgan’s 271, a lead of 43 runs.

Playing his first game for the Steelbacks this season since recovering from injury, he grew in fluency and confidence, timing the ball beautifully and taking the attack to Glamorgan with some crisp hitting which brought him 23 boundaries off 246 deliveries.

Earlier Mason Crane hit 61 (115 balls), his maiden firstclass half-century, to frustrate Northamptonshire’s bowlers and earn Glamorgan a precious batting bonus point.

Glamorgan had resumed their innings on 203 for seven. Colin Ingram, 69 overnight, moved onto 82 and was within sight of a second century of the season when he fell to a stunning one-handed diving catch by Karun Nair at first slip. Ben Sanderson then claimed his fifth wicket of the innings when he had Brad Wheal caught behind without scoring.

Crane proved a thorn in Northamptonshire’s side as he eclipsed his previous highest score of 29. He finally departed after fending a short one from Procter to slip.

For Northamptonshire,

Emilio Gay (15) looked fluent, taking two fours off James Harris’ first over before the Welshman trapped him lbw.

Even without as much assistance for the bowlers compared to the opening day, Mir Hamza kept things tight, showing admirable control and conceded just 13 runs in his first nine overs either side of lunch. He got the ball to swing in the evening session and deserved some rewards for his efforts.

Vasconcelos drove fluently and played off his legs throughout his innings.

Procter was happy to fly under the radar until he attempted to sweep Crane and picked out Billy Root at backward square who took a juggling catch.

Nair played some graceful shots, driving and cutting sweetly and hitting five boundaries as Northamptonshire duly moved past 300.