Glamorgan make 241 at Northampton

Glamorgan made two changes to their team which defeated Leicestershire on Saturday afternoon at Swansea with John Glover and Mike Reed replacing Ben Wright and Michael Hogan who is being rested. Gareth Rees and Will Bragg duly opened the batting as the home side opted to bowl on the verdant surface but there did not appear to be any demons in the surface as Rees twice nonchalantly cover drove David Willey for four, whilst Bragg caressed Trent Copeland to the ropes at mid-wicket.

Rees then drilled Willey for four through mid-off before savagely pulling a short ball from Willey over square-leg for six. Bragg then safely steered both bowlers through the slips for four before Rees did the same as Glamorgan raced to the 50-mark in the eleventh over. Two overs later, Andrew Hall entered the attack and extracted some swing, prompting Steven Crook's appearance shortly afterwards at the Lyn Wilson End, but Rees despatched his third delivery through the covers for another four.

However, with the total on 72 and Bragg on 28, Crook saw Alex Wakely at leg gully drop a chance from the opener. A mix-up in calling next over nearly saw Rees being run out, but next ball the southpaw edged Hall to second slip and departed for 39. 74/1 duly saw the in-form Murray Goodwin join Bragg and he began by clipping Crook through mid-wicket for four before sweetly on-driving Hall for a second boundary. But Crook's perseverance was eventually rewarded as Bragg was caught behind for 32 in the 26th over.

Chris Cooke joined Goodwin and saw Glamorgan through to lunch

Having gone to lunch on 96/2, Glamorgan looked to consolidate in the afternoon as Northants strove for further wickets as Trent Copeland returned to the attack together with Mohammad Azharullah who had not bowled in the morning session. Cooke greeted the latter by steering him through the slips for four before Goodwin cut the Pakistani for four followed by a thick outside edge to third man plus a glance to fine-leg.

Goodwin then drove Azharullah off the front through the covers followed by another four to fine-leg before Steven Crook returned to the fray. In his second over, the newly-capped all-rounder ended the third wicket stand as Cooke clipped the off bail with his bat as he played the bowler. 142/3 saw Jim Allenby join Goodwin and he got off the mark with a thick edge for four against David Willey. Goodwin then pulled a short ball from Crook for six before chopping the next ball for four past the wicket-keeper's gloves.

But next over, Goodwin's good fortune ended as he got a faint edge to a glance down the leg-side and was caught by a tumbling David Murphy. 158/4 immediately became 158/5 as remarkably Mark Wallace departed in identical fashion as he alkso attempted to glance the left-armer. Graham Wagg then survived the hat-trick ball before Allenby despatched Crook through the covers for four. Allenby gained another boundary as he thick-edged a delivery from Willey to the vacant third man position before clipping him to mid-wicket for another four.

The flashing blade of Graham Wagg - so effective at Headingley Carnegie on Monday - was then seen to further good effect as he upper cut Crook over the head of the slip cordon before scything him through backward point, but with the total on 184 a superb diving catch by Alex Wakely at point ended Wagg's innings as Willey struck again. John Glover began with a couple of assertive drives but with the total on 189 he edged a ball from Crook which cannoned off Murphy's outstretched gloves with Hall safely grasping the rebound.

Two overs later Crook struck again as Andrew Salter miscued a pull and was caught at mid-off. Dean Cosker saw Glamorgan past the 200-mark by drilling Crook through the covers before being dropped at first slip shortly before tea.

Resuming after tea on 224/8, Jim Allenby drilled Azharullah through mid-off for four as Northants were handicapped by the absence of David Willey with a leg injury. But Trent Copeland made amends as he returned at the Pavilion End and had Allenby caught behind for 41 before removing Mike Reed in identical fashion six overs later as Glamorgan were dismissed for 241.

This left Northants with 21 overs to face in what appeared to be bowler-friendly conditions as Graham Wagg and John Glover operated with the new ball. Stephen Peters, after nearly being bowled by Glover, clipped a delivery to square-leg for four before getting a leading edge to Wagg as the ball flew just out of the reach of gully. Peters also survived an appeal for lbw against Glover before cover driving the seamer.

James Middlebrook also cover drove Wagg for four before cutting Glover over the head of Cosker at point as the cloud cover which had hung over the ground since mid-morning started to break up. To the audible angst of Wagg, Peters edged the seamer through the slips for four before Middlebrook lofted him just over the head of mid-off. He celebrated by drilling Allenby through extra cover for four as the home side reached fifty in the tenth over.

Middlebrook then clipped Reed's first delivery to the ropes at square-leg before edging Allenby through the slips for four. There was nothing fortuitous though about the next boundary as Peters cover drove Allenby with aplomb before Dean Cosker had a couple of exploratory overs of spin before the close.