County Championship: Essex race to verge of win over Glamorgan

Nick Browne of Essex celebrates his century

Defending county champions Essex took out their frustration at not being in Division One as they raced to the verge of victory over hapless Glamorgan.

The home side, on 71-6, trail by 115 runs with just four second-innings wickets left.

The visitors' seam attack of Jamie Porter, Sam Cook and Shane Snater were rampant in the evening gloom.

But Chris Cooke (39 not out) and Andrew Salter (11 not out) survived 16 overs to take the match into a third day.

Glamorgan could not make the transition from their One-Day Cup triumph as they were outplayed with bat and ball, slumping to 29-6 after conceding a deficit of 186.

Essex piled up a formidable first-innings score of 320, with Nick Browne making a patient 102 and Michael Pepper a fluent 63.

They put on 108 for the fourth wicket as Browne reached his highest score of the season and Pepper produced a series of sumptuous drives, after Test hopeful Dan Lawrence fell for an unconvincing 34 before departing for England duty with Paul Walter replacing him.

Glamorgan claimed quick wickets either side of lunch as debutant off-spinner Steve Reingold took 3-15, but again dropped chances as Adam Wheater (36) and the aggressive Shane Snater (48) put on 79 for the eighth wicket.

Lukas Carey (3-56) and the persevering Salter (2-51) eventually finished Essex off but a huge lead for the visitors was enough to impose scoreboard pressure on the home side.

Porter (2-14) and Sam Cook (2-17) soon had Glamorgan in deep trouble with openers Hamish Rutherford and David Lloyd dismissed for ducks, and the chaos continued with four lbw decisions and a self-inflicted run-out.

Cooke and Salter managed to survive for an hour before bad light descended, but Essex look certain to complete victory on day three.

Essex batsman Nick Browne told BBC Essex Sport:

"Very pleased to get the hundred and put us into a good position, though it's a shame I didn't go on for a big score.

"It definitely helped me to play for the second XI and get a score, coming into this week after a disappointing couple of months.

"The bowlers were brilliant with pressure from ball one, all three seamers were fantastic.

"It's not been the season we would have wanted, we want to be playing for trophies but we've got to try to win this division and finish strongly."

Glamorgan all-rounder Andrew Salter told BBC Sport Wales:

"It was a tough day for us in all disciplines, as a whole we weren't there today with our skill execution and credit to Essex who've shown us how to nail the basics.

"Essex bowled really well, attacked the stumps and made us play, so kudos to them. It's a shame we couldn't see off that new ball.

"Personally it was nice to have a long spell and get into some rhythm to pick up a couple of wickets, and nice to spend some time in the middle with Chris Cooke.

"Any time you stick the daffodil on you're playing for the team and the country, so we'll try to dig in and put on a performance."