[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Two

Morning: Early drizzle gave way to a dazzling midsummer Monday, and if there was a lingering fear that Worcestershire might pull the usual trick of letting a team on the ropes get back to their feet, Joe Leach dispelled it when he beat Sam Northeast's forward prod to rattle middle and leg stump with a delivery angled in. His next ball was another beauty, tempting Kiran Carlson into a stroke that only sent an edge to third slip for a golden duck, completing a game-changing five-fer, though Charlie Morris inconsiderately scuppered the chances of a ten-wicket innings haul when he sent down a wicked seaming ball just full of a length that grazed Billy Root's edge on its way into the keeper's gloves. But after a short rebuild from 61-6, Leach was back at it again, breaking the seventh-wicket partnership when a fullish ball with a little extra bounce found Tom Cullen in two minds, shuffling his feet like a tap-dancer and edging to first slip. And there was time for one more before lunch as Michael Neser attempted the leave of the season against Ed Barnard, standing stock-still at the crease with his bat frozen in its backlift while a full, inswinging delivery zipped past his knees and tore through middle and off stump. 114-8 at the interval, the five-wicket morning handed both the session and the balance of the match to Worcestershire.

Afternoon: Andrew Salter, batting well down the order from where he began the season, fell victim to Barnard a little after two o'clock when his forward defensive offered a low nick to second slip, and Eddie Byrom - close to carrying his bat, the only Glamorgan man to offer any serious resistance - followed him back to the pavilion when a lofted shot against Dillon Pennington fell into the grateful hands of long-on. Glamorgan's total of 139 all out left them trailing by 132, and though Ed Pollock gave away his wicket in now-customary fashion, attacking a wide ball and edging straight to slip for 5, the Pears were able to reach tea 51-1.

Evening: Having done the hard work of seeing off the new ball and building a slow but steady score, the last couple of hours proved very bemusing for Worcs. Azhar Ali departed for 42, caught behind off a Michael Hogan delivery that kept low, and though he looked odds-on for a patient half-century, Jake Libby was perhaps guilty of a slight concentration lapse when he tried to work James Harris off his pads and was LBW for 49. And with a probing spell from Neser underway, none of the incoming batsmen truly managed to settle; concussion sub Tom Fell, in for the injured Taylor Cornall and making his first appearance of 2022, continued his rotten luck at the crease as a little extra bounce had him caught behind for 17; skipper Brett D'Oliveira then nicked one to second slip for 7, and even the sainted Ed Barnard only managed 1 before he was bowled. 147-6 at stumps with a lead of 279, those final four wickets were, if not a total collapse, then certainly a worrying subsidence that allows Glamorgan to keep a foothold in the match. Tomorrow's objective must be extending the target to 300, with every run beyond that a bonus. The evidence that even an old ball can cause problems on this pitch should at least be good news for the Pears attack, but they'll need a total to defend, and if the Worcs tail folds cheaply in the morning this match could yet go down to the wire.