Meschede century rallies Glamorgan at pace

[[JUGRAJ SINGH]]

Northamptonshire 0 for 0 trail Glamorgan 371 (Meschede 107, Cooke 73, Kleinveldt 3-91) by 371 runs

With Craig Meschede leading the way with a thrilling century from 95 balls, Glamorgan overcame an erratic start to their innings to score their runs at five runs an over and reach a commendable 371 at the end of an abbreviated day's play against Northamptonshire

They had been put in to bat by David Willey, deputising for Alex Wakely, who is on paternity leave, and at first it appeared that Willey's decision had paid off. The captain dismissed Jacques Rudolph in his second over and when Rory Kleinveldt trapped Will Bragg , both openers had gone for 19.

Twenty one overs had been lost to rain at the start of the day, and it was a frustrating wait for the spectators as the groundstaff dried the practice pitches where water had seeped through, while the pitch and surrounding areas were dry.

Colin Ingram and Ben Wright restored Glamorgan's fortunes with a 46-run partnership for the third wicket, before both became the third and fourth lbw victims of the innings. And when Wallace and Wagg - to the last ball before tea - were dismissed, Glamorgan were 150 for 6.

Chris Cooke and Meschede then transformed the innings with a rapid partnership of 108 in 20.3 overs for the seventh wicket. While Cooke began quietly before playing a series of attacking strokes through the offside, Meschede was immediately into his stride, with a flurry of boundaries.

He has been a big asset to Glamorgan's lower order since joining them on a season's loan from Somerset, and after scoring a maiden Championship century at No. 9 against Surrey in the second game, he followed that up with 68 in the win against Essex two weeks ago batting at No. 8, the same position from where he scored this career-best score of 107.

He struck one six and seventeen fours to reach his century, and was particularly severe on spinner Josh Cobb. He drove Cobb's second ball into the River Taff, before hitting the first four balls of Cobb's fifth over for successive boundaries.

The Glamorgan tail wagged effectively, with Andrew Salter and Rory Smith helping Meschede to add a further 109 runs, which enabled them to gain four batting points and add 221 runs in 37.3 overs for the last four wickets.