Cooke to the rescue again for Glamorgan
GLAMORGAN were grateful for the second successive game to their captain Chris Cooke, who helped his team earn a draw yesterday against Gloucestershire after they had slipped to 138-8, a lead of only 73 with plenty of overs remaining.
Cooke, who was undefeated on 59 and was at the crease for four and a half hours, was given solid support by No. 10 batsman Timm van der Gugten, who was 30 not out.
They survived despite the sterling efforts of Gloucestershire’s two left arm seamers, David Payne and Matt Taylor, who excelled throughout, with Payne taking eight wickets in the match.
Glamorgan had a lead of 132 with 13 overs remaining when the teams shook hands.
Had the first day not been lost to rain, there could have been an interesting finish as the ball dominated the bat throughout, with still plenty in the Sophia Gardens pitch for the seamers, while the odd ball turned.
Glamorgan began the final day 65 runs behind and all their wickets intact, but Matt Taylor soon got to work by taking two wickets in his opening two overs.
Charlie Hemphrey, whose place must now be in doubt after scoring only 72 runs in six completed innings, was out LBW.
He was quickly followed by Kiran Carlson, who was dismissed in similar fashion as he shuffled across his stumps to a ball that came back into him. The two wickets had fallen without any addition to the overnight score,
Nick Selman, however, stood firm, alternating between attack and defence, and was developing into a useful partnership with Billy Root, one of the few Glamorgan batsmen who has been in any sort of form this season.
After scoring 13 he was out to one of the slip catches of the season, taken by George Hankin at second slip. Root dabbed at a delivery intended for the third man area, before it was intercepted by the fielder who dived to his right and held on in front of first slip.
Selman, who also been short of runs this season, completed a responsible half century, but after adding a further five runs was leg before to Ryan Higgins off what was the last ball before lunch as play was interrupted by a heavy shower.
When Payne dismissed Dan Douthwaite and Graham Wagg in quick succession, and Kieran Bull was bowled by Graham Van Burren in his first over, Glamorgan had slumped to 131-8, a lead on only 73, but van der Gugten, who the previous day had dislocated his finger, gave his captain staunch support.
He joined his captain in the 67th over, to remain there for a further 24 overs as Gloucestershire’s
hopes receded.
Glamorgan captain Chis Cooke said afterwards: “I was happy to be there at the end and save the game, but we haven’t played to our standards yet.
“We were grateful to Timm (van der Gugten) at the end, but I do rate him as one of the best No. 10s in the championship.
“We hope to put our game in order for the last two games, starting against Northants on Saturday.”
Gloucestershire seamer David Payne said: “I was proud of my and the team’s performance, but the pitch did get better for batting once the sun came out on the final day.
“Perhaps we should have scored more runs in the first innings, but overall it was a good game for us. We hit the right lengths and it worked well.”
Glamorgan (116) and (1978) drew with Gloucestershire (181)