County Championship: Cooke ton boosts Glamorgan against Northamptonshire
- Published
Glamorgan captain Chris Cooke finished day one unbeaten on 107
LV= County Championship Group Three, The County Ground, Northampton (day one) |
Glamorgan 324-7 (96 overs): Cooke 107*, Lloyd 65, Carlson 54; Berg 3-52 |
Northamptonshire: Yet to bat |
Northants 2 pts, Glamorgan 3 pts |
A battling century from Glamorgan captain Chris Cooke took his side to a respectable 324-7 after being put in by Northamptonshire.
His ton came off 180 balls, sharing stands of 106 with Kiran Carlson (54) and 92 with Dan Douthwaite (44).
Veteran seamer Gareth Berg (3-52) played a major part in pegging Glamorgan back on day one.
David Lloyd's punchy 65 got the visitors off to a positive start before they slipped to 105-4.
South African paceman Wayne Parnell claimed two wickets either side of lunch but Carlson played the day's most elegant innings, halted when spinner Saif Zaib struck the stumps twice in two balls.
Douthwaite then threatened to take control, only for Berg to strike with the new ball as the game remained finely balanced for most of the day.
But Cooke saw his side through to stumps as Glamorgan look to have built a useful score on a pitch showing occasional signs of varying bounce.
Glamorgan opener David Lloyd told BBC Sport Wales:
"It's been a great day for us as a batting unit after losing the toss. Nick and myself getting a 50 partnership and batting for the first hour made things a little easier for the middle order.
"A great knock by the captain getting three figures, Kiran chipping in and hopefully we can build on it.
"It's my job, without being reckless, to try to get us off to a good positive start which hopefully can then run through the team. Opening is something I was really excited about, I've made a couple of tweaks and I'm feeling good.
"The wicket was quite two-paced at times, we'll have to bowl straight and attack the stumps - especially with short boundaries and the outfield running quickly."
Northants fast bowler Wayne Parnell told BBC Radio Northampton:
"It's been the nature of the season so far that wickets have been pretty decent and we've bowled well in patches.
"It was a wicket which was nice to bat on if you got stuck in but I always felt there was one ball to get you out. It was easy-paced but we've got to knuckle down and keep grinding away.
"I'm still hungry to play first and foremost, as well as to come into a new environment and add value both on and off the field. I've tried not to put too much pressure on myself in terms of performances, though I want to do well, it's about trying to make everyone else better as well."