Ricardo Vasconcelos and Rob Keogh conjured up centuries as Northamptonshire chased down 355 in just 72.4 overs to win by seven wickets in an LV= Insurance County Championship classic.
Vasconcelos and Keogh put on 239 for the third wicket, individually scoring 185 not out and 126, as Northamptonshire completed the third-highest successful fourth-innings chase in their history.
Glamorgan had given themselves 79 overs to bowl their hosts out on a pitch which had got flatter, having declared on 311 for five – after half-centuries from Nick Selman, Billy Root, Kiran Carlson and Chris Cooke.
But Vasconcelos lead the charge with his highest first-class score to tick off the runs with over six overs to spare to hand Northamptonshire 23 points and their first win of the season.
Glamorgan boosted their lead from 248 to 354 runs in 70 minutes of aggressive batting from Chris Cooke, Kiran Carlson and Callum Taylor. Cooke and Carlson set the tone with a 111-run stand in 122 balls as both reached half-centuries, in 62 and 69 balls, to go with their 136 and 54 respectively from the first innings.
Carlson departed when he was caught at deep third man, but Taylor joined Cooke to add 31 more runs in the face of defensive Northamptonshire bowling and fields before the declaration came 40 minutes before lunch.
A mixture of attacking fields and intent from Vasconcelos and Curran meant that Northamptonshire flew out the blocks. The opening pair sped to 81 in 17.4 overs to open up the once seemingly unlikely possibility of victory, with Vasconcelos reaching his half-century in exactly 50 balls.
Curran was lbw to a nicely flighted delivery from spinner Taylor, before Charlie Thurston guided James Weighell to Andy Balbirnie at first slip.
But those wickets in successive overs proved to be a very temporary stumbling block when Keogh joined Vasconcelos and the run-rate accelerated – 55 runs flowed in the following eight overs.
Keogh’s fifty came up in 47 balls, shortly before Vasconcelos raised his bat and bowed to the dressing room after cutting Taylor to the point boundary – the 16th time he’d hit the ropes. It was the South African-born batter’s seventh first-class century and second of the season.
Keogh’s eleventh career ton, and like Vasconcelos his second of the season, came in a spritely 109 balls with a powerful square drive.
The 200 run stand and Vasconcelos’ 150, brought up with a mighty six over long-on, were negotiated and met with a standing ovation from the players’ balcony as the finishing line zoomed into sight.
The partnership was eventually broken on 239 when Keogh edged David Lloyd behind with 34 runs still needed, but Luke Procter, playing his 100th first-class match, flicked off his legs to secure the win with more than 6 overs remaining.