Glamorgan v Northamptonshire: Cooke fight-back holds up visitors

Chris Cooke's watchful 69 was the mainstay of Glamorgan's second innings

Northants go into the final day of their Championship match in Cardiff on 42-1 in their second innings after being set a target of 218 by Glamorgan.

Chris Cooke, with 69, led the fight-back for Glamorgan as they recovered from 137-5 to 320 all out.

Seamers Richard Gleeson (3-71) and Rory Kleinveldt (3-77) both made life difficult for the home batsmen despite the slow pitch..

Northants had 13 overs to bat, losing Ben Duckett to Michael Hogan for 23.

The promotion-chasing visitors are still favourites for victory, but batsmen from both sides have struggled to time their shots throughout.

Earlier Northants looked to be heading for a three-day win, with Kiran Carlson's 44 the biggest score from the Glamorgan top five.

But Andrew Salter (19) gave Cooke valuable support in a watchful stand of 71 before Marchant de Lange blasted a quick-fire 39.

Glamorgan wicket-keeper/batsman Chris Cooke told BBC Sport Wales:

"It was a decent day for us, I wouldn't say a brilliant day but we're in the game and if we bowl well we could have a good result.

"It's the kind of wicket where you still need to be positive and counter-attack when you can, I thought Salts and I did that quite well, then Marchant and Meschy (Craig Meschede) as well.

"A few early wickets could be interesting. When they bowled straight and had men in front of the bat it was the hardest time to bat and we might adopt similar tactics, so it might become a bit of a war of attrition."

Northants captain Alex Wakely told BBC Radio Northampton:

"We started the day brilliantly, we bowled really well for an hour and a bit and stuck to our plans, but after lunch it got a bit tougher. It's the kind of wicket where once you get in it's hard to get out, though scoring isn't the easiest.

"It's going to be a good game of cricket now, there's a bit of spin and variable bounce so it's set up for a nice finish, but I'm pleased and I think we're in a nice position."