BELL RINGS UP PAIR OF TONS TO SINK GLAM

IAN Bell completed two unbeaten centuries in a match as Warwickshire cemented their place at the top of Specsavers County Championship Division Two with a four-wicket win over Glamorgan at Edgbaston.

Bell followed his first innings 106 not out with an unbeaten 115 (164 balls, 17 fours) to takes his side to their target of 294 with 20 overs to spare.

It was the second time he has scored two hundreds in a match and the first at Edgbaston. He previously achieved the feat against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 2004.

Bell was well-supported by Jonathan Trott (67, 107 balls, six fours) and Will Rhodes (61, 120 balls, eight fours) as Glamorgan ended up comfortably beaten in a match in which they competed hard and which was finely-poised for three days.

Only on the final day when the pitch flattened out did the Welsh county’s challenge fade to leave them nursing a third successive championship defeat.

Glamorgan coach Robert Croft said: “Guys with about 160 Test matches in their locker got a lot of their runs (Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell) and fair play to Bell, in particular.

“He put on an exhibition of batting in both innings and for our young side it is part of the learning curve.

“They have had hours to watch how the best go about their job and I’d be pretty disappointed if they haven’t picked up any tips along the way.

“We competed for lots of the game. We made some good moves in it and we made some disappointing mistakes.

“To give five wickets for 29 to the leg-spinner in the first innings was particularly disappointing from a team perspective and then yesterday evening after putting in a good fightback in the first two sessions we lost our last five wickets for 51 runs.

“If you eradicate those two mistakes then hopefully we have got another 80-100 runs on the board which puts us in a far better position for the final day.”