Notts take control against weary Glamorgan

Nottinghamshire assumed total control on day two of their Specsavers County Championship game against Glamorgan at the SSE Swalec in Cardiff. Having reached 448 all out with the bat, thanks to half centuries from Chris Read and Brett Hutton, they bowled out Glamorgan for 187 and will choose overnight, whether or not to enforce the follow-on.

The Welsh county have yet to win a four-day game this season and on the evidence of their performance on day two, a change of fortune looks highly unlikely. In fact, if they attempt as many high risk shots in their second innings as they did in the first, they will do well to take the game past tea.

Although the morning's play was fragmented due to a couple of heavy rain showers and injuries to both Read and Hutton, Notts arrived at lunch on 389 for 6. Hutton, who was struck on the head by Marchant de Lange was the more aggressive of the two players, whilst Read, who reached his 50 off 71 balls with eight fours and a six, thereafter set off in careful pursuit of a three figures.

After an early lunch had been taken due to heavy rain, the seventh wicket pair upped the tempo  with Read, who was forced to have a runner after damaging a hip, playing a secondary role to Hutton who passed 50 from 80 balls, with six fours.

Read eventually departed, at 427 for 7, caught by Will Bragg off the bowling of Lukas Carey for 88 and thereafter, Glamorgan enjoyed their most productive spell of the day. Stuart Broad was bowled by Colin Ingram for seven, Hutton top-edged Carey to de Lange at backward point for 61 and Harry Gurney was comprehensively bowled by Timm van der Gutgen for one. Van der Gutgen was the pick of the Glamorgan bowlers, finishing with figures of 5 for 101. Carey helped himself to 3 for 100.

Keen to make early inroads, with the ball, Notts took less than eight overs to make the initial breakthrough. Luke Fletcher, bowling from the River End, had Nick Selman caught behind by stand-in wicket keeper Rikki Wessels for 7. Thereafter, Glamorgan lost wickets at regular intervals.

Bragg committed cricketing suicide when running himself out for five at 20 for 2 and though the host county were only two wickets down at tea, their plight worsened thereafter. Ingram departed for nine, caught by Steven Mullaney off Hutton at 47 for 3, before captain Jacques Rudolph (25) edged Gurney to Wessels at 51 for 4.

David Lloyd and Aneurin Donald batted with a degree of aggression and application to take the Welsh county past the 100 mark in the 34th over, but after Lloyd was caught at slip by Mullaney off the bowling of Broad, for 34, Chris Cooke had his off stump knocked back by the England seamer to leave Glamorgan on 125 for 6.

Any faint hope Glamorgan might have had of avoiding the follow on disappeared when Donald (53) pulled Fletcher to the mid wicket boundary where substitute Luke Wood pulled off a remarkable one handed catch.

Notts head coach Peter Moores said; "I felt it was a really good score on the pitch. A lot of the hard work was done on the first day, but I thought Chris Read and Brett Hutton played really well."

"Chris does what he does best. He picks off the bad balls and Brett played some great shots too. Chris edged one onto his hip area and he has been icing it all afternoon. We will see how it is in the morning, but I dont think he will be able to keep."

De Lange followed, caught in a similar position, by Cheteshwar Pujara at 158 for 8 and after van der Gutgen gifted Samit Patel his first wicket, shortly after, Carey was last man out at 187, leaving Notts with a first innings lead of 261.

Glamorgan's Aneurin Donald said; "I felt pretty good out there, but it was criminal to get out in the way I did and when I did. As a team, we bowled well for two sessions on Friday and then we lost our way a buit."

"Today we stuffed up with the bat and didn't get the job done. Tomorrow is a new day and we have to bat again, we need to get in and post a good score. I am convinced there is a big score to get on that wicket."