Bob Willis Trophy: Charlie Thurston ton boosts Northamptonshire v Glamorgan

Batting at three for Northamptonshire, Charlie Thurston's 115 came off 163 balls

A maiden county hundred from Charlie Thurston put Northants on top as they reached 288-5, 29 runs ahead of Glamorgan.

Thurston's impressive stroke-play took took him to 115 off 163 balls.

He and Ben Curran added 176 in untroubled fashion as Northants controlled the first session, before Curran fell for 82.

A brilliant slip catch by Nick Selman off Timm van der Gugten removed him one short of a career-best.

The Netherlands bowler, the pick of the visitors' seam attack, should have had Thurston caught at slip on 99.

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But it was left to Glamorgan's batting star Callum Taylor to bowl Thurston and claim his maiden first-class wicket as the visitors belatedly fought back.

Rain wiped 26 overs off the day's play before Northants gradually built on their lead in the closing 80-minute session against some tight bowling, with acting captain Ricardo Vasconcelos not out 31 overnight in their best first-innings score of the season.

Both sides are still looking for their first win of the Bob Willis Trophy.

Northants batsman Charlie Thurston told BBC Radio Northampton:

"Getting that score of 96 at Edgbaston was great for building confidence, but it was just fantastic to get over the line and get a hundred today, contributing to getting a big first-innings score which is something we've struggled with as a team this season.

"Brilliant batting with BC (Ben Curran) who played superbly, it was great fun batting together and we got a good tempo going so it was enjoyable.

"There are so many people to thank who've helped me get here, my parents for running me round when I was a youngster, a great set-up at Bedford School where I learned loads and then Bedfordshire where I built my way up into Northants, it's been fantastic.

"We've got to be as positive as we can with the bat and get as healthy a lead as possible then get stuck into them."

Glamorgan bowler Timm van der Gugten told BBC Sport Wales:

"We were probably guilty of trying a bit too hard early on, but in the last session we bowled really well as a unit and that's the template we have to take forward to try to restrict them, then bat well in the second innings.

"I got on a bit of a roll, the ball's coming out nicely at the moment, but all the bowlers bowled really well at times.

"We are a little bit behind the game at the moment though Callum played a phenomenal innings to get us back into it when we were staring down the barrel.

"We've got a few debutants and youngsters playing so the energy's up and we're all just enjoying playing cricket again after a long time off the field."