MATCH REPORT: Lancashire lose by 154 runs against Glamorgan
Today's match report presented by C&C Insurance Brokers
Glamorgan wrapped up a resounding 154-run victory to consolidate their second place in the Rothesay County Championship Division Two table while the defeat leaves Lancashire 38 points behind their opponents – who they play in the final match of the season – one of their three games left to play.
It took 23.5 overs of play on the final day for the visitors to take the five wickets they needed with James Anderson the last man out at 2.22 pm after play had been initially delayed by 75 minutes due to rain.
Lancashire, resuming on 226-5 and needing another 247 runs, suffered two early losses with nightwatchman Tom Bailey bowled for 16 by a superb inswinging yorker from Asitha Fernando that uprooted his off stump, followed by that of Chris Green who top-edged a sweep off Ben Kellaway that dollied up to Kiran Carlson for 9.
That left Marcus Harris more or less fighting a lone hand, the Australian overseas batter reaching fifty for the seventh time this season from 89 balls, and desperately attempting to chance the narrative of the day when hitting Kellaway for a straight six to add to the six boundaries struck by the left-hand bat.
The 45-minute session saw Lancashire reach lunch on 274-7 but any lingering hopes evaporated four overs into the afternoon when Harris fell for 61 to a bat/pad catch off Crane snapped up by Carlson at short leg.
Tom Hartley and Anderson followed as Lancashire were bowled out for 318 with Glamorgan’s Mason Crane finishing with match figures of 9-126.
“I thought with a lot of the game, we had some really good spells and ultimately two poor sessions have cost us the game,” was interim Head Coach Steven Croft’s post-match assessment.
“It's a little bit of a shame as well, over the last four Championship games, we've played some really good cricket.
“We might have deserved more than two wins, but that's the way it goes and it's sort of a lesson for us all that you can't take your eye off the ball for a session or two. And it definitely cost us in this game.
“I think we didn't play the spin particularly well in the first innings. And then putting a little bit of pressure on in that second innings and you see how many bad balls we got. There was always a threat of us getting the runs.
“And it was probably clear to see that that was the right tempo. I think a couple of shots before the close of play or the breaks, maybe something around them needs to be assessed. But I think as a blueprint in that second innings, that's the way we want to play.
“So, I thought we got the intent right.
“I think if you can go through it with a fine toothcomb, we could have bowled them out for 180. We were really good with the new ball, went past the bat 10, 20 times. And we could have been chasing sort of 40, 50 runs less.
“We should have done better in the first innings with the bat. And then we're chasing our tails a little bit.
“But it's produced a really good game of cricket that it hurts not to be on the right side of, especially at home.”
Ken Grime
Photos: Luke Adams & Dan Adams
