Nottinghamshire 302 and 224 for 8 (Duckett 95, van der Gugten 4-51) lead Glamorgan 379 (Northeast 85, Lloyd 76, van der Gugten 62) by 147 runs
Glamorgan will enter the final day of their LV= Insurance County Championship match against Nottinghamshire feeling that they are in a strong position to complete their first victory in a red-ball match at Trent Bridge since 1998.
Nottinghamshire, pre-season favourites to win promotion from Division Two, pulled off an improbable win over Sussex at Hove last week. Another would seem unlikely, although ninth-wicket pair Brett Hutton and Joey Evison – batting with a runner because of a sore toe – added 37 in the last 14 overs and a few more on the final morning could still set up an intriguing finish.
Having let a good position slip on Friday, Nottinghamshire needed another seven overs on the third morning to take the last Glamorgan wicket, van der Gugten’s measured contribution with the bat ending when he miscued Liam Patterson-White’s left-arm spin and was caught at long-off.
Michael Hogan, 19 not out, then demonstrated that his prowess with the ball does not wane even in his 41st year by removing both Nottinghamshire openers without scoring.
He surprised Haseeb Hameed in his second over with a ball that climbed and looped to gully off the shoulder of the bat and, in his next over, banged another in short that Ben Slater went to pull but could only glove through to the wicketkeeper.
Duckett and Joe Clarke were briefly on top as Nottinghamshire recovered from two down for one run to 45 for 2 at lunch. But Hogan and van der Gugten were able to dry up the runs immediately after lunch and Michael Neser returned to have Clarke caught behind, pushing at one that found a thin edge.
Having survived a half-chance to midwicket on 32, Duckett went on the attack, going to his half-century with a lovely shot through the offside for four off Neser, following up with three legside boundaries against Andrew Salter’s off-spin.
He lost another partner as skipper Steven Mullaney fell to a dab outside off stump that lacked conviction and turned into another catch for Chris Cooke.
By tea, Duckett had moved into the 90s, but with Nottinghamshire still only 81 in front, Glamorgan knew that his early removal in the third session could be decisive.
In the event, it came only four overs in, as the left-hander, with rare indecisiveness, pushed tentatively at a ball from van der Gugten only for it to leave him just enough to take the edge. David Lloyd took the catch at slip.
Van der Gugten, finding some swing with the old ball, claimed his second wicket as Liam Patterson-White was adjudged leg before seeking to work one off his pads, a third as Sam Northeast dived full length to his left to snare Moores at second slip and a fourth as Northeast held one just over the ground to remove James Pattinson.
But Hutton and Evison could yet turn the target into a tricky one, although there is a question mark over whether Evison will be able to bowl.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo