Batting heroes earn Glam unlikely draw
IN-FORM duo Sam Northeast and Colin Ingram hit superb final-day rearguard centuries to help Glamorgan secure a Vitality County Championship draw against frustrated Yorkshire at Headingley.
South African veteran Ingram and captain Northeast continued their excellent starts to the season with patient scores of 113 and 142, completing a double-century partnership for the fourth wicket in their side’s second innings.
Yorkshire had claimed a firstinnings lead of 298 just after lunch on day three and would have been confident of forcing a first win of 2024 at the fifth attempt as Glamorgan started the day on 171-3.
But when thunder and lightning intervened just before 4.20pm, they were 372-7 with a lead of 74.
No more play was possible. Pre-season Division Two title favourites Yorkshire have now gone five games without a win to ensure a slow start to their promotion bid.
They were thwarted by Northeast, who is the leading runscorer in the country with 561 and hit 15 fours in 336 balls.
Yorkshire claimed 16 points from their fourth draw, Glamorgan took 10 from their fourth successive draw.
There remains plenty of time left for Yorkshire – nine games to be precise – to get on a roll and secure a top-two finish.
But they have to find a way to take 20 wickets in a match, something they haven’t done at Headingley since June 2021, a run of 15 Championship fixtures.
Glamorgan started the day 127 runs behind, with Ingram 43 and Northeast 46.
The pair ended the day among the top three run-scorers in the division having shared a 210 stand – their county’s highest fourth-wicket partnership in firstclass meetings with Yorkshire. Ingram has 467 runs to his name.
While this used pitch showed signs of turn throughout the four days, it failed to deteriorate as much as Yorkshire would have hoped in Harry Brook’s last of five early-season appearances before England’s T20 World Cup preparations.
Left-handed Ingram and 2021 Yorkshire loanee Northeast were watchful against the spin of Dom Bess and Dan Moriarty and the seam of Ben Coad and Matthew Revis, the latter pair taking a mid-morning new ball.
Yorkshire used four spinners in all, with part-timers Joe Root and Adam Lyth employed as well as they raced through the overs. They claimed two wickets apiece.
Ingram took Revis for three successive boundaries to move into the 80s and went on to complete his second century of the season, off 202 balls, just before lunch.
Glamorgan reached lunch at 277-3, trailing by only 21, and Northeast reached his latest century during the early stages of the afternoon.
By that stage the Welsh side were in front, and what had seemed an unlikely draw at the start of the day had turned into a highly likely one against a home attack hurt by the absence of injured fast bowler Matthew Fisher.
He had suffered a left ankle injury while fielding just before tea on day three and failed to take the field again.
Ingram and Northeast each reached three figures for the second time this season. Northeast’s previous hundred was his record-breaking 335 against Middlesex last month – the highest individual score ever posted at Lord’s.
Northeast raised his bat early in the afternoon when he reached his ton off 226 balls.
Just moments before, Ingram had picked out mid-off against Root’s off-spin to become the first wicket of the day, leaving the score at 304-4 in the 100th over.
Glamorgan had a lead of five runs by then, with the hard work done.
Root forced Chris Cooke to play on and Lyth trapped Tom Bevan and James Harris lbw either side of tea, leaving Glamorgan at 370-7 with a lead of just 72.
But the weather intervened for happy Glamorgan, whose captain was outstanding.
Northeast said: “It’s been a tough four days.
“They’re a good side, and we needed everything to pull through today.
“We got a bit of luck with a bit of darkness and some rain.
“There are a lot of positives to take from it, but we have a few big games coming up.
“It’s about getting yourself in (at the start of the day) and trying to be as positive as you can be, rotating strike.
“We knew it would take a pretty big effort, and Colin’s playing unbelievably well at the moment.
“He’s in the best form I’ve seen him in, for sure.
“It took a big effort, but we managed to get there in the end.”