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Fisher and Coad give Yorkshire control at Glamorgan

Matthew Fisher
Matthew Fisher is leaving Yorkshire this month after 10 years in the first-team squad [Huw Evans Picture Agency]

Vitality County Championship Division Two, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff (day two)

Yorkshire 361 (91.1 overs): Hill 90, Wharton 63, Bess 50; Gorvin 4-67 & 116-1: Lyth 55, Bean 53*

Glamorgan 239 (68.5 overs): Ingram 82; Fisher 4-55, Coad 4-55

Yorkshire (6 pts) lead Glamorgan (3 pts) by 238 runs with nine second-innings wickets standing

Match scorecard

Matthew Fisher and Ben Coad bowled Yorkshire into a dominant position as the promotion-chasers claimed a first-innings lead of 122 over Glamorgan.

They go into day three in Cardiff on 116-1, already a lead of 238 runs, as Adam Lyth and Finlay Bean started strongly with fifties.

Pacemen Fisher and Coad took 4-55 apiece as Glamorgan were dismissed for 239, Colin Ingram leading the resistance with a fluent 82.

The home side only avoided a possible follow-on with eight wickets down.

Glamorgan started at 12-0 under cloudy skies but Coad began an early procession, trapping Sam Northeast lbw for 16.

Fisher found late movement to have Asa Tribe and Kiran Carlson caught at slip in successive balls before Coad found the edge of Ben Kellaway’s bat to give Jonny Bairstow the first of three catches behind the stumps.

Ingram and Chris Cooke (20) added 49 against the change bowlers as the clouds lifted, but Fisher returned to have Cooke edging his second ball to the diving Bairstow, and trapped Timm van der Gugten lbw to make it 98-6 at lunch.

South African Ingram, who has made surpassed half-century in each of his 10 championship games this season, led the fight-back in a stand of 63 with Mason Crane (29), who was acrobatically caught by Bairstow hooking at Jordan Thompson.

Dom Bess bowled Ingram in his first over with Glamorgan still 40 short of the follow-on, but James Harris and Andy Gorvin dug in and scrapped their way to the modest target in the afternoon sun.

Coad finished off the resistance by having Harris (40) given leg-before, though he clearly believed he hit the ball, and bowling last man Ben Morris.

Left 27 overs to bat in fine conditions, Lyth and Bean made the most of it as they found the boundary regularly.

Lyth was the more aggressive with eight fours and a six in his half-century before falling to Harris for 55 in the penultimate over.

Yorkshire were left to ponder the timing of a potential declaration on day three, with the possibility of poor weather on the horizon for the final afternoon.

Glamorgan’s Colin Ingram told BBC Sport Wales:

“It didn’t go to plan losing six wickets in that first session and it’s a tough old scrap for us back into the game, though the guys down the order showed some good resilience.

“I left a few runs out there, when it’s going well, you’ve got to keep repeating but I don’t like being in the positions we were in last week and again this week. We’ve got a good mountain to climb and it’s going to test our character.

“The (team) huddle out there (after play), we were talking about what it means to play for this team. We’ve got to show some character as we’ve done a number of times over many years.”

Yorkshire bowler Ben Coad said:

“We had a great day. We would have liked to knock the tail over a bit quicker, but we are very happy to have got early wickets and have a lead of 120.

“It is a decent wicket, so to bat like we did in the first innings and get that lead today, it’s been a great couple of days.”