Glamorgan are looking to finish with a flourish
GLAMORGAN have not won a championship game at their Sophia Gardens headquarters since Leicestershire were beaten three years ago, but they are on course to repeat that success sometime during the final two days of what has been a desperately-disappointing season.
After 200 supporters had attended a members forum on Monday, when the club announced there would be an Independent External Review conducted in October, the players responded with a satisfying allround performance to end the second day in a commanding position.
After gaining a first-innings lead of 227, Michael Hogan opted not to enforce the follow-on, his decision based on the two-and-a-half days remaining, and to give his batsmen, who have been short of runs for most of the summer, the opportunity of some late-season practice.
At the end of the second day in Cardiff, Glamorgan led by 333 and they are likely to bat for another session and leave the opposition a target in excess of 400 to win. The visitors will then need to show far more dedication and application than they did in the first innings when they were dismissed for 132 in only 48.3 overs.
When play resumed on the second morning, the ninth-wicket pair of Timm Van Der Gugten (50) and Kieran Bull (24) extended their partnership to 80, with Glamorgan gaining four batting points, the most in an innings this season, with Van Der Gugten reaching his second half- century in three games in the eventual total of 359 all out.
Leicestershire lost Sam Evans in Hogan’s opening over, then the innings began to slide as Colin Ackerman was out to Graham Wagg in the final over before lunch and Mark Cosgrove to the first ball after the interval.
Apart from Harry Dearden, who scored 48 from 87 balls with 10 fours, no other batsman could cope with an accurate Glamorgan attack – Wagg ending with figures of 10-4-253.
Stephen Cook, who was signed as an overseas player for the final four games, failed again when he was leg before to Taylor for five – the South African ending his short stay with only 120 runs from eight innings and an average of 15.
Glamorgan then wobbled, as three wickets fell for one run. Nick Selman ended a poor season when he was lbw to Dieter Klein, who then had Murphy caught behind, and when Carlson wafted at a wide one from Gavin Griffiths, the home team had stumbled to 39 for four.
They recovered as Chris Cooke and Jeremy Lawlor shared an unbeaten productive partnership of 67 for the fifth wicket, with Cooke 41 and Lawlor 21 and their team in control on 106 for four.