Thurston and Gay on song as Northants sink Glamorgan to claim first win of the season

A first career half-century from Emilio Gay, who finished unbeaten on 77, and another 50 from the in-form Charlie Thurston set the County on their way, while a late flurry from Luke Procter proved crucial as Northants chased down the 189 target with 13.3 overs to spare.

There had been fears that the severe weather of Storm Francis would kill off the County's chances of a fourth-day win at the County Ground.

But the rains cleared to a allow a mid-afternoon start, and the frustrations of Glamorgan's brutal fightback with the bat on Monday were forgotten for David Ripley and his team, who claimed a first four-day win of the season at the fourth attempt.

The result sees Northants move off the bottom of the Bob Wills Trophy Central Group, with Glamorgan replacing them.

It also leaves the squad in good heart as they now switch their attentions to the Vitality T20 Blast, which begins this Thursday with a trip to Bristol to take on Gloucestershire.

It was thanks to a team effort by the groundstaff, with a little help from head coach Ripley, Ben Sanderson and a few others, that the covers were removed and play started at 2.40pm.

And after witnessing the grim and very damp scene that greeted everybody on arrival at the County Ground, that was an achievement in itself.

But although the heavy and at times torrential rain that had soaked the ground overnight and throughout the morning had disappeared, the strong winds that had accompanied the wet stuff had not.

Almost gale force at times, the wind was howling across the pitch, coming from over the back of the players' pavilion.

It will have taken some getting used to for bowlers and batters alike, and proved too much for the bails to take, which were removed by the umpires after a couple of overs.

Glamorgan's bowlers approached their task with plenty of enthusiasm, but Thurston and Gay were up the task.

The former survived one very difficult chance that was put down by a diving Joe Cooke at third man, but aside from that they made steady progress from the overnight 62 for one.

They were in a race to see who would reach their half-century first, and it was first innings centurion Thurston who won the battle, bringing up his 50 from just 55 balls as the County eased to 115 for one at tea, Gay left sweating on 48 not out.

Northants went into the interval needing 74 to win from the 28 overs remaining, and on the resumption Gay didn't have to wait long for his maiden half-century in first-class cricket, clipping a four through mid-wicket of Dan Douthwaite.

The 20-year-old's first 50 in senior four-day cricket came from 103 balls, and saw him hit five boundaries.

Cruising at 126 for one and just 63 runs shy of victory, the County's worst nightmare at this point was more rain, and it duly arrived - but thankfully the shower was a short-lived one and the players returned to the middle after a 10-minute delay, with three overs lost.

The break ensured there was initially a little more urgency from the Northants batters, with Thurston lifting van der Gugten over square-leg for six in the first over after the restart.

Glamorgan, who were resorting to some no so subtle time-wasting tactics in the hope of more rain, were desperate for a breakthrough, and they got it in the 34th over when Douthwaite trapped Thurston in front for 64 to leave the County 133 for two.

The wicket slowed Northants' progress, with Gay struggling for his touch but new man Luke Procter eased the tension with successive boundaries off Douthwaite in the 36th over, leaving the County needing just 40 to win.

Procter continued to push on and had hit 25 from just 22 balls when he edged Michael Hogan behind with 13 still needed, and threat of more rain still in the air.

With Glamorgan skipper Chris Cooke continuing to slow the game down at every single opportunity, Gay took it on himself to get the job done.

He hit van der Gugten for 10 from four balls in the 45th over, and although he also ran out unfortunate partner Rob Keogh for a duck, stand-in skipper Ricardo Vasconcelos hit the winning runs in next over to seal the win for Northants.

A delighted Gay, in only his sixth innings for the club, finished in 77 not out from 145 balls, striking seven boundaries.