Rain was ultimately victorious on Day Two at Wantage Road with only two hours of cricket played between Northamptonshire and Cardiff UCCE.
After an hour’s burst with the ball yesterday evening, Dom Leech and Liam Guthrie resumed under cloudy skies today with the former taking an early scalp, bowling Crofton Keyes to leave Cardiff 52-2.
Reeve Evitts’ half-century slowed the bowler’s momentum, however, as he and Henry Hurle put on 59 in an impressive stand.
Cardiff were well placed on 111-2, however, Northamptonshire’s introduction of Gus Miller with the ball managed to halt a threatening morning as he claimed the wicket of Evitts in his opening over before trapping Sami Khan in front for two to reduce the away side to 113-4.
Miller bowled tidily and offered threat throughout his spell, extracting movement out of the wicket and bringing the stumps into play, with both of his dismissals lbw.
Leech bowled without luck after his early wicket with all of the home side’s seamers benefitting from the overs in their legs ahead of the season opener on Friday.
After Miller’s quick-fire double, Cardiff steadied once more and scored noticeably swiftly in the final half hour before lunch. Hurle caught the eye with an unbeaten 55 before being joined by Joe Willis who was destructive on his way to 41 not out off just 25 balls.
At lunch, the game was evenly poised with the visitors trailing by 96, however, the day drifted to a frustrating halt when a persistent shower eventually forced abandonment of the day.
A small clearing before tea offered hope of some evening entertainment but a second and more assertive shower left the umpires with no choice but to end the day prematurely.
The final day of this warm up match will start tomorrow at 11am.