Despite a late comeback from Glamorgan to save the follow-on, Yorkshire’s dominance in this match was a major step towards their return to Division One.
Ben Coad and Matthew Fisher each claimed four wickets as they dismissed the Welsh County for 239, giving them a 122-run advantage after one over. Colin Ingram, who has scored the most runs in County Championship cricket this season with 82, was the shining light for Glamorgan.
With two days left in the match, Yorkshire’s advantage was 238 thanks to a century opening partnership between Adam Lyth and Finlay Bean. Both players scored half-centuries to close at 116-1, with Lyth being out of the game by James Harris just before the conclusion.
After two years out from Division One, a victory would put second-placed Yorkshire in a strong position to return. In the last round of games, leaders Sussex will take on third-placed Middlesex.
Before lunch, Yorkshire’s opening bowlers, Coad and Fisher, took advantage of the cloudy circumstances that beset Glamorgan’s batsmen.
During that period, both bowlers successfully swung the contest in favour of the visitors, who claimed six wickets in two periods.
Sam Northeast, the captain of Glamorgan, is a player to target early on because, once in, he can make large runs; Coad provided one such score that came back and trapped the opening batsman leg before wicket.
Kiran Carlson’s first-ball nick and Ben Kellaway’s identical four-wicket effort were both undone by elegant away swing bowling; Fisher had Carlson caught in the slips, while Coad had claimed Kellaway’s wicket after he was caught behind by Jonny Bairstow.
Throwing the bat at wide swinging deliveries, Asa Tribe and Chris Cooke both made significant contributions to their own demise. Tribe caught Lyth at second slip, while Cooke was pouched by Bairstow.
With what turned out to be the last delivery of the first session, Fisher claimed his fourth wicket, lbw Tim van der Gugten.
While keeping an eye on things from the other side, Ingram did not discover any of the demons that his partners were experiencing.
Dom Bess, an off-spinner, had to wait for his opportunity to bowl, but when it did, he took the crucial wicket of the South African, clean bowling with the intention of cutting a ball that was just missing the mark for the shot.
Glamorgan were still 40 runs shy of the follow-on target despite Mason Crane’s 29 in a combination of 63 with Ingram. However, James Harris and Andy Gorvin’s partnership of 67 saw them past that point with surprising ease.
After trapping Harris leg before wicket for a solid forty, Coad returned to close the innings and bowled debutant Ben Morris clean to secure a lead of 122 on the first innings and six bonus points. After being 37 for 4 and 98 for 6, Glamorgan were all out for 239.
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Bean and Lyth, Yorkshire’s opening duo, remained largely unscathed as they stretched the lead into comfortable territory. Lyth was removed shortly before the end as they wait for a declaration sometime tomorrow.