Glos fall to end of season defeat at Glamorgan
28 September 2024
By Rob Cole
To their credit, opposing skippers Sam Northeast and Graeme van Buuren tried to breathe some life into a game that had lost its first day through rain and came to a gentlemen’s agreement to make it a one innings match – which Glamorgan eventually won by 192 runs.
Glamorgan decided to declare at 381-4 after seeing Northeast reach 1,000 runs for the season and then Chris Cooke reach his unbeaten century with two huge sixes off Oliver Price to set their visitors a target of 382 to win off a likely 82 overs given the forecast for Sunday.
With little at stake for two teams Gloucestershire accepted the gauntlet thrown down to them.
Joe Phillips was given a lifeline in the second over when Northeast failed to take a head high catch at second slip off Ned Leonard. It was to prove a costly miss as Phillips became the mainstay of the run chase, batting for two hours and 43 minutes for 64 before he was the fourth man out.
His opening partner Chris Dent had been the first to go when he was caught in the slips by Colin Ingram off Leonard, completing his season long loan from Somerset, for a duck.
Oliver Price was then bowled by Andy Gorvin for 13 to make it 46-2 in the 23rd over and when Miles Hammond departed after putting on 46 with Phillips Gloucestershire were 92-3.
The hundred came up courtesy of a boundary from Phillips off James Harris in the 38th over and Gloucestershire looked well set. But then the wickets began to tumble and Andy Gorvin with 3-22 and Ben Kellaway 3-24 eventually removed the visitors for 189 by 5.32pm.
After Phillips departed the only real resistance came from wicketkeeper James Bracey, who was eventually the last man out on 49 when he was bowled by Kellaway.
For the first time in the opening three days the game started on time and Glamorgan set about the task of adding runs to their overnight total of 283-4. Having agreed to set a target of around 370, the Welsh county saw Cooke reach his half-century in the second over of the morning.
The new ball arrived at 11.23am and in the next over Northeast reach his 50. By the time he reached 63 in the 84th over he had reached the magical 1,000 run mark for the season.
From then on it was just a case of when Glamorgan would reach the agreed figure, although it had to be expanded slightly with Cooke so close to his century. Using two spinners, Gloucestershire gave him every chance to get their quickly and two mighty blows over the mid off and mid on boundaries in successive balls got him to three figures.
He reached his century off 121 balls and hit 10 fours and three sixes. His unbeaten fifth wicket partnership with Northeast was worth 171 before the declaration came and lunch was taken.
