Top Of The Hill

Gloucestershire 179 and 388 for 3 (Bancroft 159*, Hammond 121, Bracey 90*) lead Glamorgan 197 (Crane 44, Webster 7-17) by 370 runs

Miles Hammond and Cameron Bancroft both scored brilliant hundreds to illuminate the Cheltenham Festival as Gloucestershire assumed control on the second day of the Vitality County Championship Division Two match against Glamorgan.

Having been shot out for 179 on the opening day and conceded a first-innings deficit of 18 after dismissing Glamorgan for 197, the home side found themselves under pressure when Timm van der Gugten reduced them to 17 for 2 second time around. But Hammond and Bancroft turned the tables by staging a mammoth third-wicket stand of 201 in 36.1 overs as the pitch flattened out and overhead conditions improved, in the process slamming the door shut on Welsh ambition.

Hammond raised an enterprising 121, while Bancroft finished unbeaten on 159 from 221 balls and helped add 170 for the fourth wicket with James Bracey, who posted 90 not out from 117 balls as Gloucestershire reached the close on 388 for 3, a commanding lead of 370 with two days still to play.

Cheltenham-born Hammond has a special affinity with the festival, having registered his maiden hundred at the College Ground in only his fourth first-class match in 2018. His fifth Championship hundred was a classy affair indeed, the elegant left hander adopting a positive approach to provide delighted festival devotees with rich pickings the like of which they dared not imagine when 17 wickets fell on the first day.

Driving fluently almost from the get-go, Hammond saw off the threat posed by van der Gugten and flourished, going to a 53-ball 50 with his ninth four, a flowing drive through long-on at the expense of Marnus Labuschagne. As he grew in confidence and conditions improved, so he expanded his repertoire, a trio of audacious slog-sweeps netting him three sixes at the expense of Mason Crane and Dan Douthwaite, who suffered horribly and were withdrawn from the attack.

Hammond's second 50 occupied just 41 balls and, as the crowd rose to acclaim his second hundred of the season, he sank to one knee and delivered a fist pump before raising his bat in acknowledgment and receiving a heartfelt hug of congratulation from Bancroft.

Cast in the role of chief support, the Australian also played with assurance, timing the ball beautifully and going to a 70-ball half century in the grand manner, pulling Douthwaite over the square leg boundary for six, a shot that also brought up the 100 partnership.

Adept at finding the gaps and rotating the strike, Bancroft proved the perfect foil to Hammond, who was in his pomp as the 200 partnership came up off 216 balls. All good things come to an end though, and Kiran Carlson, the seventh bowler deployed by Glamorgan skipper Sam Northeast, broke the partnership in his first over from the Chapel End, Hammond skying a catch to mid-on, having accrued 17 fours and a quartet of sixes in a sparkling innings spanning 110 deliveries.

Although Bancroft's advance to three figures was a rather more sedate affair, his contribution was every bit as important, confirming as it did the dominance of bat over ball for the first time in the contest. His hundred occupied 143 balls, included a six and 10 fours, and was greeted with much glee by Gloucestershire supporters.

Aware of the need to bat on and put the game beyond Glamorgan's reach, Bracey played responsibly, reaching 50 from 68 balls, while Bancroft went to 150 via 211 balls as Gloucestershire stamped their authority in a final session that yielded 165 runs without loss.

Resuming on 133 for 7 in the morning, Glamorgan were 46 behind and with plenty of work still to be done if they were to achieve the minimum requirement of first-innings parity. In the event, they were indebted to Crane who, when it was needed most, staged a forthright innings of 44 from 56 balls and dominated a progressive stand of 52 in 10.1 overs with Andy Gorvin for the ninth wicket to put his team in credit.

Marchant de Lange struck an early blow for the home side, wicketkeeper Bracey claiming his fifth catch to remove van der Gugten, before Beau Webster hastened a swift termination, having Gorvin held at point via a leading edge and then enticing Crane to hole out to Ajeet Singh Dale at long-on. The Australian finished with impressive figures of 5 for 17 from 10.1 overs with four maidens, while de Lange backed him up with 3 for 44.