Glamorgan 146 for 3 (Northeast 50) trail Gloucestershire 546 (Bancroft 163, O Price 101, Hammond 54) by 400 runs
Bowlers on both sides were made to strive hard for wickets on the second day of Gloucestershire's Rothesay County Championship Second Division match with Glamorgan at the Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol.
The hosts began by extending their overnight first innings score of 368 for 3 to a mammoth 546 all out, claiming four bonus points to Glamorgan's two. Miles Hammond contributed 54 and Graeme van Buuren 48, while Zain-ul-Hassan was the pick of the Glamorgan attack with 2 for 66 from 24 overs.
In reply, the visitors had reached 146 for 3 by the time bad light ended play at 5.40pm, Sam Northeast making exactly 50. They still require a further 251 to avoid the possibility of following on, but can sleep soundly in the knowledge that a third-day Bristol pitch is unlikely to offer any greater challenges.
Gloucestershire soon made their intentions to score quick runs clear at the start of play as Hammond, unbeaten on 37 overnight, took two boundaries off the second over, sent down by Asitha Fernando. But nightwatchman Matt Taylor fell cheaply with the total advanced to 379, caught at third slip by Kiran Carlson, pushing forward to Timm van der Gugten.
Hammond went to an attractive half-century off 62 balls, with eight fours, before van der Gugten forced a ball between bat and pad to clip the stumps. The 400 was brought up in the 108th over, leaving Gloucestershire too short of time to claim a fifth batting bonus point.
James Bracey looked in good touch, producing the shot of the morning with a glorious on-drive for four off van der Gugten and following up with an equally impressive square-driven boundary in the same over.
It looked as though Glamorgan would have to settle for one bowling point when the final ball of the 110th over was reached with Gloucestershire 423 for 5. But it saw van Buuren and Bracey attempt a quick single to backward point and Bracey run out for 24 by Ben Kellaway's rapid throw to wicketkeeper Chris Cooke.
Chris Dent was next to the crease in the unfamiliar role of No. 8. The experienced opener made a brisk 24, helping van Buuren take the total to 466 before edging a back-foot forcing shot off Ned Leonard through to Cooke.
At lunch, Gloucestershire had progressed to 491 for 7, having scored 123 in the session for the loss of four wickets. That became 506 for 8 soon after the interval when Tom Price, on 21, was pinned lbw falling across his stumps by Zain.
It was a well-deserved wicket for the seamer, who had bowled without any luck on day one. He quickly followed up by having Zaman Akhter caught at slip for 15, and the innings finally ended when van Buuren, who had clipped Zain off his toes over deep backward square for six, holed out to long-off to give Shoaib Bashir a second wicket of the innings.
Glamorgan had been in the field for 137.5 overs and began their first innings facing severe scoreboard pressure. Openers Eddie Byrom and Zain took the total to 44 before the latter edged to wicketkeeper Bracey pushing forward to Tom Price and departed for 28.
Byrom followed for 23 with the score on 84, getting a nick to a back-foot defensive off Taylor for Bracey to take a second straightforward catch. But Northeast had settled in and survived just one major scare, a confident lbw shout by Price, on 46 before moving to a 77-ball half-century, with nine fours.
That was as good as it got for the Glamorgan skipper who fended at a ball from Ajeet Singh Dale that hurried onto him and edged to Cameron Bancroft at second slip.
Carlson and Colin Ingram then batted with few alarms until, with a possible 11.1 overs left in the day's play and the floodlights on, the umpires decided conditions were no longer fit for play.
