Rain hampers Lancashire victory push

Glamorgan 182 for 6 trail Lancashire 462 by 280 runs
Scorecard

Lancashire will need to take 14 wickets in the final three sessions to win their Division Two game against Glamorgan after rain restricted the teams to only 52.2 overs on the third day at Old Trafford.

In the cricket that was possible before showers of varying intensity coalesced into serious rain, Glamorgan lost five more first-innings wickets, two of them to Glen Chapple, in scoring 134 runs and were 182 for 6 when umpires Rob Bailey and Richard Illingworth finally called play off for the day.

Resuming on 48 for 1 in reply to Lancashire's 462, Glamorgan lost their skipper Jacques Rudolph for 22 in the sixth over of the morning when his unwise push at a Chapple delivery which was cleverly pushed across the left-hander only edged a catch to wicketkeeper Alex Davies.

Forty minutes later Colin Ingram, having batted safely enough in making 17, opted not to play a shot at a ball from James Faulkner which plucked out his off stump. That left Glamorgan on 96 for 3 but nightwatchman Andrew Salter and Chris Cooke then added 26 before Salter was stumped by Davies off Kerrigan when he came down the wicket but was defeated by a little turn.

Until his dismissal, Salter had batted very well for his 45 runs and had recorded his fifth successive score above 30. Indeed he had looked far more competent than his status as a nightwatchman might imply.

There were only 19.2 overs in the afternoon session before an early tea was taken but Steven Croft's bowlers claimed two further wickets in the play that was possible to strengthen their team's hold on the match.

David Lloyd was bowled by Chapple for 15 when he played most crookedly at a ball outside his off and succeeded only in edging it onto his middle stump, thus giving Chapple his 982nd first-class wicket. Twelve overs later, Cooke, having batted in a pleasantly accomplished fashion for 31 was leg before to Faulkner, who brought the ball back from the off to trap the Glamorgan batsman on the crease.

Mark Wallace was unbeaten on 20 off 38 balls when, with the sky darkening and the rain setting in, the players came off for good.

Should Lancashire win this game they will clinch promotion back to Division One of the Championship with three four-day games still to be played. However, the destination of the Division Two title may well depend on the result of the match against Surrey, which begins on September 14.