Ripley praises Northants' all-round performance as Glamorgan are crushed in Cardiff

The County crushed Glamorgan by 233 runs in Cardiff, bowling the hosts out for 200 in their second innings.

It’s a result that sees Northants climb off the bottom of the table, and Ripley was very happy with the comprehensive manner it was achieved, with all departments of the team functioning well.

With the bat, in Northants’ first innings there were half-centuries for Ricardo Vasconelos, Alex Wakely and Richard Levi, and then in the second Ben Duckett hit a century and Luke Procter, Vasconelos and Steven Crook all added crucial 50s.

With the ball, Brett Sanderson, Nathan Buck, Brett Hutton, Procter and Seekugge Prasanna all claimed crucial wickets, and Ripley said: “We played well throughout the four days.

“It was a good toss to win, and it was pleasing to see seven batsmen bat for more than 100 balls.

“In the second innings we had that excellent start, but what killed Glamorgan off was that 147 stand from Ricardo Vasconelos and Steve Crook.

“There was also consistency from the bowlers, and after taking some stick recently, we have proved we now competing well.”

Sri Lankan spinner Prasanna claimed four of the second innings wickets to fall, with Hutton and Buck taking two apiece.

Northants only needed to take nine wickets, as Michael Hogan was unable to bat, and they managed to wrap things up before lunch on day four.

Glamorgan head coach Robert Croft accepted that his side had been well beaten, and bemoaned his players’ familiar failings.

“This defeat had a common thread that we need to improve on,” said Croft.

“We are not capitalising on the starts we are having, whether it’s a lack of concentration or inexperience.

“I think we had a poor day two and that’s what cost us.

“The partnership between Procter and Duckett (the pair put on 208 for the first wicket in the second innings) meant the game ran away from us.

“I thought we did really well prior to that, to get as close as we did, but we really were slack after that for a period and it was difficult to fight our way back.”

“On Wednesday morning we showed what we were capable of.

“We got those wickets five wickets for about 90 runs and I thought we had a sniff, but unfortunately, we couldn’t back up another session and they broke away from there.”

Northants can now put their Championship campaign on the backburner, as they switch their attention to the Vitality T20 Blast, which starts next Wednesday.

The County start their campaign with two home games in the space of three days, taking on Leicestershire on Wednesday at Wantage Road, with Notts Outlaws coming to town on Friday.

Both matches start as 6.30pm.