Thurston celebrates much-needed century as Northants start to take control

Charlie Thurston was a centurion on day two

Thurston took control on the second day of the Bob Willis Trophy clash, racking up 115 from 163 balls before he was bowled by Callum Taylor.

Ben Curran, who, like Thurston, is just 24 years old, also impressed with the bat as the opener made 82 from 163 deliveries.

It meant Northants made their way to 288 for five at the close, leading by 29 runs after Glamorgan were bowled out for 259.

And Thurston, who had also impressed in the season opener against Warwickshire, said: “Getting that score at Edgbaston was great to get some confidence but getting over the line today is great.

"Hopefully it's contributing to us getting a big first innings score which is something we’ve struggled with.

“Ben played superbly and unfortunately didn’t quite make his hundred but we had a good tempo going.

“Batting has been difficult here for the last two games but you can trust this pitch and bat for long periods of time.”

Northants went into the game sitting bottom of their group, nine points behind Glamorgan.

But the County are in a great position now, with the opposition knowing they are up against it.

And Glamorgan bowler Timm van der Gugten said: "We were probably guilty of trying a bit too hard early on, but in the last session we bowled really well as a unit and that's the template we have to take forward to try to restrict them, then bat well in the second innings.

"I got on a bit of a roll, the ball's coming out nicely at the moment, but all the bowlers bowled really well at times.

"We are a little bit behind the game at the moment, though Callum played a phenomenal innings to get us back into it when we were staring down the barrel."