Gloucestershire produced a barnstorming display to claim victory over Glamorgan at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol. The home side’s first innings performance was massive, ending with a score line of 546. Instead, they raised the floor for their challengers to have to meet.
Bancroft was at the fore of the onslaught, making a stunning 163 runs with fellow opener O Price adding 101 runs to the total. Hammond’s solid 54 runs further bolstered the team’s total as they capitalized on favorable batting conditions. In contrast, Glamorgan’s bowling attack struggled to contain the aggressive batting display, with Leonard taking three wickets but unable to prevent the onslaught.
Glamorgan had a very difficult target of 397 runs to make to get out of the follow-on, requiring them to score that many in their response. As play resumed in their second innings, Glamorgan had a mountain to climb. This meant at the halfway stage they were trailing Gloucestershire by 400 runs, putting them into serious trouble and pressure.
Chasing a target of 314 runs, Glamorgan reached 146 for three in their second innings. Sadly, poor light called a premature end to the match. Sam Northeast was the other standout performer for Glamorgan, smashing 50 off 37 deliveries including nine fours. Yet for all this hard-fought battle, the team never looked settled, as the home side’s seam attack displayed a menacingly efficient display. Timm van der Gugten and Zain Ul Hassan both took two wickets each as the bowling attack continued to pummel Ireland’s batting order.
“It’s pretty close to what we set out to do, to get to that total while there’s still a little bit in the wicket and hopefully we can exploit that, so it was a really good day,” said Matt Taylor, reflecting on his team’s performance.
Zain Ul Hassan praised his teammates, stating, “The fight shown by the boys in the morning session and after lunch was incredible with the bowlers coming back, Timm with the first spell and Ned.”
Gloucestershire have established a pretty strong position here as the game moves into its second half. Glamorgan need to take stock and decide to seriously compete to stay in the hunt. The prevailing weather conditions were certainly a factor in the day’s proceedings, with bad light forcing an early finish. With only a few sessions left in the match, Glamorgan must capitalize on any opportunities to recover from their current state.
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