Glamorgan attack struggles to find a winning formula
GLAMORGAN’S Vitality County Championship match against Derbyshire in Cardiff ended as a draw as a superb stand between Luis Reece and Brooke Guest guided the visitors to safety.
Derbyshire had an improbable target of 401 to chase on the final day with a Glamorgan victory more likely when play resumed with the visitors 40-1.
The early wickets of David Lloyd and Wayne Madsen gave Glamorgan early hope, but those were the last wickets to fall in the match as batting became increasingly straightforward.
Reece finished on 91 not out with Guest also undefeated on 72, with Derbyshire finishing their second innings on 225-3.
Play began 15 minutes late thanks to overnight rain, with Glamorgan needing nine wickets and Derbyshire requiring another 361 runs to claim victory.
Early wickets were important for Glamorgan given that the pitch has been hard to start on and got easier as batters adjusted to its slow nature.
Derbyshire lost the first wicket of the day having added just three runs to their overnight total when former Glamorgan skipper David Lloyd was run out by a sharp throw from Mason Crane for 24.
A 34-run stand between Reece and Madsen settled some of the nerves that may have caused in the Derbyshire ranks before James Harris bowled Madsen for 25.
That left Derbyshire at 79-3 and in danger.
From there an excellent and assured partnership of 146 between Reece and Guest took the visitors to lunch and then to the close of play.
Both players took a while to get started, but they batted with an increased confidence as the day progressed.
A heavy shower during the interval kept the players from the field and took more overs out of a game that already looked to be heading towards a draw after promising an entertaining finish on the first two days.
Spinner Crane had enjoyed the turning pitch in the first innings, but as the ball began to behave less erratically in the second innings he struggled for wickets and control.
His final figures of 0-91 saw him going a 5.35 runs an over.
Another brief shower took players off the field on the stroke to tea and when they resumed they were left with the unlikely equations of either 212 runs for victory from 34 overs or seven wickets on a pitch that was flattening out.
The pick of the Glamorgan bowlers was Harris, who finished with the impressive figures of 2-21, and while he struggled to generate chances he was again very difficult to score off.
During the evening session both Reece and Guest looked untroubled by the Glamorgan attack as it became apparent that the game was heading towards a draw.
Both teams claimed 11 points. Glamorgan travel to Northamptonshire later this week.
Harris said: “It has been a really interesting game.
“It spun quite sharply and was really dangerous in the first day and a half. That seemed to relent a little and got easier to bat on and a bit more placid.
“It was a pretty good game of cricket. The game was in the balance yesterday morning.
“We played really well with the bat to swing it in our favour and just couldn’t manage to get any wickets on it in some pretty tough conditions in the wind and rain.
“We will take a lot of positives from this.
“We need to find a way where we get a few more results at home. We need to turn this into a place where we can win games of cricket more often than we do.”
Lloyd, who was making his first return to Sophia Gardens since his departure last year, said: “I was obviously delighted to make my debut.
“The lads have been spot-on, their work ethic and the commitment they put in was superb.”