COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION TWO, Swalec Stadium:
Middlesex 181 & 253-4 beat Glamorgan 198 & 232 by six wickets
Glamorgan’s hopes of winning LV= County Championship Division Two took a blow with a six wicket defeat at the hands of lowly Middlesex.
It was only the London county’s third victory of the season but a deserved one as they chased down 250 – the highest score of the match – very comfortably. Batting was not easy on a testing Swalec Stadium surface but Middlesex, chiefly through Dawid Malan’s 84 not out, overcame any fears of batting last with ease.
The match had been a low scoring affair after both sides were bowled out under 200 in the first-innings. Three wickets each for James Harris and Jim Allenby saw Glamorgan take a slender 17-run lead.
The home side then sensed an opportunity for victory after Allenby’s second-innings 91 not out had helped Glamorgan set a testing target and when spin duo Robert Croft and Dean Cosker shared three wickets at the start of the Middlesex chase, their hopes rose. But Malan’s careful innings guided the visitors home.
Despite the defeat, Glamorgan remain in the promotion places with three games to play and have a 17-point cushion over third-placed Gloucestershire.
By Alex Winter
