Glamorgan 318 & 421/5 dec v Nottinghamshire 285 & 259/4 (County Championship Division Two)
11.07.22-14.07.22
*four day match drawn
After staring defeat in the face heading into the final day, Nottinghamshire batted stubbornly on the final day to secure a draw against Glamorgan, and remain on top of Division Two of the County Championship. The county finished on 259 for 4 chasing an unlikely 455 runs to win thanks to fifties from Joe Clarke and Lyndon James.
Notts won the toss and ended the first day on 19 without loss, after bowling out the third-placed team for 318. Colin Ingram sped to 34 off 29 balls, with seven fours, before Sam Northeast (56 off 84 balls), and Kiran Carlson (46 off 95), propped up the middle-order batting with an 87-run stand as Glamorgan went from 76-3 to 193-6.
The lower-order batting of Michael Neser (42 off 51), Andrew Slater (35 off 44), and James Harris (28 off 44), helped the home side pass the 300-run mark. The best of the county’s bowlers was Brett Hutton, with 4 for 76 in 17 overs, with Steven Mullaney (2-42), Luke Fletcher (2-53), and Dane Paterson (2-62), also chipping in with the wickets.
The county started off well the next day with Ben Slater (31), Haseeb Hameed, and county championship debutant, Matthew Montgomery, helping the side to 130-1 at lunch. However, Hameed was dismissed soon after for a fine 70 with 12 boundaries, and despite a spritely 50 off 72 balls from James, which included six fours and two sixes, Notts collapsed from 233-3 to 285 all out.
Montgomery was eighth out for a patient career-best 80 at 284, as the last five wickets fell for just 11 runs. Michael Hogan was the best of the bowlers with 4-47 in 20 overs, and Harris finished with 4-65. Glamorgan ended the day on a comfortable 53-0, to lead by 86 runs.
The Welsh side piled on the runs on the third day with captain David Lloyd, with 60, putting on 172 for the first wicket with Eddie Byrom. Ingram again added a swift 33 off 40 balls, and despite losing three wickets for 14 runs, including Byrom for a fluent 144 off 204 balls (21 fours and one six), a partnership of 147 for the fifth wicket between Northeast and Billy Root (53 off 88), helped the home side pass the 400 mark.
Northeast was unbeaten on 105 off 137 balls (eight fours and two sixes), when the declaration came on 421 for 5. Liam Patterson-White (2-116) was the best of the suffering bowlers. Set an impossible 455 to win, Hameed was bowled for one, as the county closed on 19-1.
Having lost Montgomery early on for three, Slater made a patient 48, before Clarke and James crafted a partnership of 97 for the fourth wicket in nearly 32 overs. Clarke just missed his hundred, caught behind for 95 off 155 balls, with 14 fours, before skipper Mullaney joined James for another steady stand worth 75 runs in 26 overs.
James hit ten fours, but his unbeaten 76 took up 192 balls, whilst the normally belligerent Mullaney faced 81 balls in making 28 not out. Nottinghamshire have a healthy lead at the top of the table after second placed Middlesex lost to Worcestershire. They have 159 points from nine games, with Middlesex (138), and Glamorgan (137), fighting for second place.
Glamorgan XI: Lloyd (c), Byrom, Ingram, Northeast, Carlson, Root, Cooke, Neser, Salter, Harris, Hogan
Nottinghamshire XI: Slater, Hameed, Montgomery, Clarke, James, Mullaney (c), Patterson-White, Evison, Hutton, Fletcher, Paterson.
Venue: Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
*Article provided by Hitesh Darji (Cricket Correspondent)
*Main image @TrentBridge Captain Steven Mullaney ended not out to help Notts avoid defeat.
