Gloucestershire were 133/5 in their second innings, still 157 runs in arrears at the end of an action-packed third day of their Specsavers County Championship match against Glamorgan at Bristol after a career-best 119 from David Lloyd, who shared a record eighth wicket stand of 117 with Marchant de Lange (50*), saw the Welsh county to a total of 526/9 and a first innings lead of 290.
Evening Update
Gloucestershire were in trouble at tea on 18/2 and a deficit of 272 runs as Chris Dent resumed with James Bracey, with Lukas Carey and Marchant de Lange seeking further wickets. Dent responded by square-driving Carey but next over de Lange made further inroads as the home captain edged into the gully where Andrew Salter pouched the ball to leave Gloucestershire reeling on 28/3.
Jack Taylor responded with a pair of drives for three whilst James Bracey greeted the introduction of Andrew Salter’s off-spin by square-cutting him for four. Jack Taylor on-drove Hogan to see his side to the 50-mark before twice edging the visiting captain through the slip cordon. Bracey then cover drive and late cut Salter for a pair of fours before Taylor cover drove de Lange when he returned at the Pavilion End. But the change of bowling did the trick as Taylor sparred at a rising ball and Kiran Carlson running in from point caught the ball diving forward.
74/4 saw Graeme van Buuren join Bracey and he nearly departed next over as he edged de Lange just short of gully. Bracey found the ropes again as he square drove Salter before van Buuren cover drove de Lange. But the paceman had the last laugh as later in the over he trapped the batsman l.b.w. as Gloucestershire slipped to 84/5. Ryan Higgins opened his account by cover-driving de Lange to bring the deficit below the 200-mark, before glancing the paceman to fine-leg, and perilously close to Cooke’s out-stretched gloves as well as a thick edge through gully.
Bracey also nearly edged successive deliveries from Hogan into the slips as the Glamorgan captain returned for a final salvo at the Ashley Down End, but Higgins was more successful in steering Hogan through point for four as the sixth wicket pair held firm and saw Gloucestershire through to the close but still with plenty of batting to be done tomorrow to prevent Glamorgan from winning their opening Championship game for the first time since 2014.
Afternoon update
David Lloyd’s belligerent 69 had seen Glamorgan to 408/7 at lunch and a healthy lead of 172 as Dan Worrall and Graeme van Buuren resumed the bowling duties after the interval. Lloyd began by sweeping van Buuren for four whilst Marchant de Lange upper-cut Worrall for six over third man. The boundaries continued to come as Lloyd delicately late-cut van Buuren for another four before an edge from de Lange against Worrall bisected first slip and gully as the lead went past 200.
Lloyd then greeted the return of Benny Howell at the Pavilion End by cover driving successive balls for four and three, before again late cutting van Buuren to the ropes at third man. Next ball, he lofted the twirler high over wide long-on for six before drilling the next delivery to long-on to complete a 136-ball century - the fourth of his career and his first since making an unbeaten 102 against Sussex at Hove in July 2016.
He unfurled another sweetly-timed on-drive in the next over from Howell to surpass his previous best first-class score as de Lange also used the long handle with a range of expansive and unorthodox blows as the eighth wicket pair completed a century stand, having batted together for a shade over an hour. De Lange celebrated by lofting Higgins for six to wide long-on as the stand beat Glamorgan’s previous best for the eighth wicket against Gloucestershire, surpassing the 105 added by Robert Croft and Mark Wallace at Cheltenham in 2010.
Lloyd then pulled Howell for four but on 119 he edged Howell into Roderick’s gloves as the jaunty eighth wicket stand ended having added 117 in 21.4 overs. The boundaries though continued as Lukas Carey nonchalantly on-drove Howell to see Glamorgan to 500 at the end of the 146th over. A series of singles then followed until, with the total on 510, Carey departed l.b.w. to Higgins as Michael Hogan joined de Lange who was looking to post his maiden Championship fifty.
Both batsmen mixed the orthodox with some lusty blows as a series of singles took de Lange to his fifty from 74 balls with his partner calling a halt shortly afterwards with Glamorgan leading by 290 runs. De Lange was soon back in action as he opened the bowling with Chris Dent and Benny Howell facing a tricky 30 minute spell before tea.
With a predatory cordon of four slips and a gully, both de Lange and Carey beat the outside edge on several occasions whilst Howell carved de Lange over the slips for the first four of the innings. But with the total on 14 Carey trapped Howell l.b.w. before four runs later having Gareth Roderick superbly caught at third slip by Aneurin Donald who dived low to his right to snaffle the ball.
Lunchtime Report
An assertive and high-class hundred by Shaun Marsh, decorated with eighteen crisply-struck boundaries was the highlight of yesterday’s play as the Australian saw his new county secure a lead of 60 runs, with the prospect of more this morning as play began on time despite overnight thunderstorms.
Gloucestershire were still handicapped by the absence of Liam Norwell who yesterday sustained a re-occurrence of his hamstring strain in mid-afternoon, and Glamorgan’s remaining batsmen were looking to capitalize on both his absence and their decent position as Matt Taylor and Dan Worrall resumed the bowling to the overnight pairing of Chris Cooke and David Lloyd. After four maiden overs, Cooke steered Taylor through backward point to bring up the 300 and secure another batting point. A thick edge for four through the vacant gully followed later in the over, before Lloyd opened his account for the day by doing the same against Worrall.
Lloyd also drilled Worrall square of the wicket for another boundary whilst Cooke clipped Taylor to the ropes at mid-wicket before cover-driving him for another boundary later in the over. Cooke then turned his attention to Ryan Higgins who he struck for successive fours to extra cover and backward point, whilst the lead went into three figures as Cooke then drilled Higgins through mid-off.
With Worrall bowling a series of short balls, Cooke pulled the Australian for four but with the total on 349 he perished as he was caught at mid-wicket attempting to repeat the stroke. With Andrew Salter as his new partner, Lloyd greeted the return of Taylor into the attack by drilling him through extra-cover for four before deftly guiding Higgins through point and extra cover for further boundaries.
Salter opened his account by sweeping Graeme van Buuren for four but in Taylor’s next over he clipped the ball low to short mid-wicket where Howell completed another catch. 379/7 saw the arrival of Marchant de Lange as Lloyd continued to find the ropes as he twice off-drove van Buuren to complete an 85-ball half-century. He celebrated by unfurling a booming cover drive for four against van Buuren before hooking Worrall for six in the penultimate over of the session.