[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Three

Morning: The threat of forecast thunderstorms seemed far away on a muggy Monday morning, but if Glamorgan had planned to make hay while the sun shone, they were in for a rude awakening. Joe Leach went on the charge from the off, and quickly had Kiran Carlson caught at second slip for 79 with an outswinging delivery. In his next over, Glamorgan skipper Chris Cooke attempted a square drive and was caught at point for a duck, and the collapse was on. Persisting with his nagging line just outside off, Leach tempted Tom Cullen into a shot which edged to second slip, and with the last ball of the same over, Dan Douthwaite perished for a duck as he attempted a hook and was caught in the deep. At 203-6 it even looked possible that the follow-on might come into play, but the visitors dug in and rebuilt well, with Billy Root still at the crease, reaching lunch on 257-6.

Afternoon: Root was the prize wicket for the home side, and it was Charlie Morris who claimed it, having the set batsman caught behind with a spectacular diving one-hander for 118. He followed it up with a second, courtesy of another nick behind from Kieran Bull for 7, and Ed Barnard got in on the act with a third man caught behind; this time Graham Wagg with a top-edged steepler for 54. In a game of fine margins so far, the last-wicket stand proved frustrating for Worcs, eating up time and piling on valuable runs, but Dillon Pennington eventually produced his first wicket of the season with Michael Hogan caught at point for 17, bringing Glamorgan's first innings to a close with a score of 374 all out, 81 runs in arrears.

Evening: With time ebbing rapidly away, Worcestershire could have been forgiven for coming out with bats blazing, but the opening hour of the second innings was incredibly watchful and slow-scoring. The openers did accelerate after five o'clock, finding the boundary with regularity, but with the day's end in sight Jake Libby edged behind for 44, and nightwatchman Joe Leach also perished to the final ball of the day, caught at slip for a duck. The Pears closed on 98-2, leading by 179, with those two late wickets suggesting that the home side will have to be fairly cautious in the early stages tomorrow. If we can get the lead up to 300 by lunch and leave Glamorgan an outside chance of victory with some aggressive play, the last two sessions could yet make for an interesting conclusion.