[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Three

Morning: A cooler, cloudier and windier Tuesday on the banks of the Severn, and after a brief delay, the match resumed more or less where it had left off, with Michael Neser finding extra lift in the pitch to claim the edge of Gareth Roderick, caught at third slip for 6. It became a double blow when Joe Leach edged behind for 2 on the drive, but the incoming Josh Baker showed some fight at the crease, creaming a cover-drive to the boundary to bring up the 300 lead while nightwatchman Charlie Morris supported at the other end. Two wickets in two balls shortly after midday closed the innings with Worcs 199 all out, setting a target of 332 for Glamorgan to win, and Morris then made the first breakthrough with the ball before lunch, having David Lloyd caught at mid-off for 13. The visitors were 36-1 at the interval, mixing a bright start with some hefty doses of luck.

Afternoon: The Glamorgan rebuild ended when Baker drew Eddie Byrom into his second ill-advised reverse sweep in as many balls, looping a top edge into the air for a comfortable running catch at slip, and as Morris held down one end with some supremely disciplined bowling, going for just one an over, the seamer was rewarded with the scalp of Sam Northeast, who cut hard at a short wide ball with extra bounce only to loft it into the hands of third man for 13. Those two wickets were hard-earned in a session that saw Glamorgan enjoy some luck with inside edges whizzing past the stumps and outside edges not carrying to slip, but also some ominous signs that the pitch was no longer offering the kind of assistance that it had in previous innings. 117-3 at tea.

Evening: After continuing to tie down the batsmen, there was every cause for optimism when Dillon Pennington drew some lift from a delivery short of a length and a surprised Kiran Carlson gloved behind for 5, leaving the visitors 133-4. But for most of the evening that was as good as it got, as a partnership of 95 between Colin Ingram and Billy Root gradually swung the pendulum in Glamorgan's favour. It was looking like an increasingly hopeless cause until ten past six, when the hitherto luckless Ed Barnard - who'd beaten the bat countless times, had Ingram dropped at slip and been denied a strong caught behind shout - finally got the benefit of the doubt on a marginal LBW decision to see off the centurion Ingram for 102. 232-5 at stumps, Glamorgan require precisely 100 runs to win and Worcestershire 5 wickets, with the new ball due immediately upon the resumption. Simply put, the match will now hinge on that first hour with the new nut; three reasonably quick wickets for sixty runs or fewer will hand the advantage back to the Pears, but if the Welshmen weather the storm (as they've managed admirably in the first eighty overs), they'll be firm favourites to knock off the required ton before lunch.