Ben Coad is confident Yorkshire can wrap up victory over Glamorgan across the next two days in Cardiff after strengthening his county’s position in the contest with four second-day wickets.
Coad and new ball partner Matthew Fisher claimed four wickets apiece to bowl Glamorgan out for 239 in their first-innings reply to Yorkshire’s 361 all out.
Coad hailed team-mates Fisher with the ball and openers Adam Lyth and Fin Bean with the bat, the latter two making evening half-centuries as Yorkshire closed on 116-1 in their second innings, a lead of 238 heading into day three.
If Yorkshire win, it will be their fifth win in six Division Two matches and, with one round remaining, would take them to the verge of promotion ahead of Middlesex.
“First thing this morning, we wanted to try and get some early wickets, which we thankfully did and got a nice lead,” said Coad, who matched Fisher’s 4-55 exactly.
“Then, the lads at the end have set us up really nicely for the next two days.”
Coad says Yorkshire weren’t planning to enforce the follow-on had they bowled Glamorgan out for 211 or fewer in their first innings today.
“I don’t think we were going to enforce the follow-on with so much time left in the game, and we want to bring our spinners into it later in the game,” he said.
“It’s going to go its own way.
“There’s so much time left, and we have a nice lead now. I don’t think we have to force anything.”
The pitch showed signs of being easier for batting today than yesterday.
“That might be the sun and the heavy roller, but there’s still a little bit there, especially with the newer ball,” he said. “The older ball, it gets a bit easier to bat with. Looking at it, it might spin a bit later on, which is what we’re hoping for.”
On his own performance with the ball, which has taken him to 48 Championship wickets for the season and 294 first-class scalps in his career, he said: “I felt a bit rusty. I didn’t feel at my best at all.
“I bowled a few good balls which got the wickets, but I couldn’t string six together. But Fish bowled beautifully, especially. He deserved five, but unfortunately he couldn’t get there.”
And on Lyth and Bean this evening – the pair sharing 115 for the first wicket in the second innings, Coad added: “They played beautifully. It was just unfortunate we couldn’t get them over the line (through to close).
“They’ve done it for the last two or three years.
“We know what we’re getting with Beany and Lythy.
“They’re both quality batsmen, and the amount of times they’ve got 50 plus partnerships – I can’t remember what it is, but it’s an incredible amount. They’ve been awesome.”
