LV= County Championship Division Two

LV= County Championship Division Two

Nottinghamshire CCC v Glamorgan CCC, Trent Bridge Day Three

Glamorgan battle their way to a winning position

Glamorgan built on a lead they compiled through lower-order resistance the previous evening. Their experienced bowling attack never allowed Notts a chance to get back into the game in conditions where batting looked difficult.

 Ben Duckett added 95 runs to his 122 in the first innings on a day when things slipped from Nottinghamshire’s grasp. In the first innings, the home side had occasions to take the game away from Glamorgan.  

The Welsh side kept plugging away, and after their tailenders eventually gave their side a lead of 77, it was going to be hard work for Notts to put themselves in a position to win the game. The deficit would take some time to wipe out, even on a pitch where scoring was at roughly three and a half an over. 

It was made harder for the home side when they had lost both openers with just a run on the board. Also, the availability of Joey Evison who’d been off the field with an injury as the Glamorgan innings ended, was uncertain. Notts had it all to do. 

Michael Neser and Michael Hogan, the Glamorgan opening bowlers, bowled tight lines so that the Notts batters could not get the run-scoring under way. Haseeb Hameed was the first to go, pouched by Kiran Carlson at slip without scoring. Ben Slater followed caught behind to give Hogan his second wicket of the day. 

Notts started to rebuild with Duckett and Joe Clarke, and, for a brief time, batting looked easier. It was a game where the bowlers had to be patient. Notts were hoping for an afternoon session with little drama, but that failed to materialise as Clarke was drawn into playing at a ball that just left him and Cooke behind the stumps was grateful for the catch. 

At this point, Notts were still 14 runs in arrears. However, a 51 run partnership between Duckett and Steven Mullaney gave Notts a slender lead, the Notts captain Mullaney adding just eight of those runs. 

Wickets fell at regular intervals as the Glamorgan bowlers continues to bowl tight lines and gave little away. Duckett was on his way to his fourth hundred against Glamorgan to go with his first-innings ton. The former England batsman was Notts’ last hope. They expected to bat long into the day, but he couldn’t get past 95, his first dismissal in the nineties in his first-class career. As with the batters dismissed before him, an edge into the slip cordon saw an end to his innings. 

Liam Patterson-White was the only batter to fall lbw, albeit to a debatable decision, for eight with the Notts’ lead barely over a hundred. 

Evison and Brett Hutton eked out a lead of 147 runs. As they added some late evening resistance. Evison, batting with a runner, finished not out on 25.  

Final day chases are never easy, and Glamorgan will hope they can reach the target with relative ease. However, don’t rule out the Notts bowlers giving it everything and grabbing an unlikely win.

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