A SUPERB ton from Craig Meschede should rescue a draw for Glamorgan after Surrey’s huge first innings total, writes Edward Bevan.

Glamorgan were indebted yesterday to their ninth wicket pair of Craig Meschede (101no) and Dean Cosker who shared partnership of 119 for the ninth wicket, and also saved Glamorgan from following on.

When the pair came together Glamorgan required a further 121 runs to make Surrey bat again, but with careful application, and some robust hitting from Meschede.the improbable target of 414 was reached with two overs remaining at the end of the day.

Although Cosker was out with two runs needed, Meschede struck the runs needed to avoid the follow on and also reach his maiden championship century before Glamorgan were all out for 419.

Glamorgan resumed in the morning at 124 for 2 needing to score 414 to avoid the follow on and the left handed combination of Gwent’s Will Bragg and Colin Ingram survived the first hour, sharing a partnership of 56 before Bragg was bowled behind his legs for 37.

Glamorgan then lost two wickets in quick succession before lunch as Chris Cooke was run out, attempting a third run, and Ingram struck a half volley to cover. Mark Wallace and Graham Wagg then rebuilt the innings with a 55 run partnership for the sixth wicket, but Wagg , attempting to cut the off spin of Gareth Batty was bowled for an enterprising innings of 31.

Batty, despite minimal turn from the pitch, bowled with exemplary control, varying his line and length and was rewarded with his third wicket when David Lloyd unwisely tried to sweep a straight ball.

Wallace, who began his innings needing 106 to complete 10,000 runs for Glamorgan, alternated between solid defence and aggression and made 51 before touching one from Tom Curran to the wicketkeeper. At that stage, Glamorgan needed a further seven runs for the third batting point, but any doubts were dispelled by Craig Meschede and Dean Cosker, who not only scored the seven runs but went on to share in the highest partnership of the innings.

Meschede , who is on a season’s loan to Glamorgan from Somerset has already impressed with bat and ball, and was soon into his stride with two flowing drives from Batty.

With Cosker giving solid support, the ninth wicket pair were rarely troubled and Meschede soon passed 50 with nine boundaries, and when he struck Ansari for a big six over long on, achieved his career best score- surpassing the 62 he made against Durham at Chester le Street three years ago.

They also created a new ninth wicket record for Glamorgan against Surrey, passing the 88 set by Robert Croft and David Harrison at Swansea in 2006.