With Nottinghamshire’s LV= Insurance County Championship clash against Glamorgan in Cardiff now at its halfway stage, Matt Montgomery has reflected on a personally bittersweet second day.
Having resumed on 19 without loss replying to the hosts’ 318 all out, the Green and Golds were dismissed for 285 despite Montgomery’s 80 alongside 70 for Haseeb Hameed and Lyndon James’ 50.
“It was a tough day for us in the end,” stated Montgomery. “We’ll admit we let it slip in the last session.
“Personally, it was a very nice day for me, to get 80 on my Notts [First-Class] debut, but we’re definitely in a tough position so we’re going to need to have a good day tomorrow to get ourselves back on top.”
Montgomery was initially free-flowing, striking several luscious fours in a partnership of 71 with Hameed, before knuckling down after passing fifty to add valuable runs during a middle-order slip.
He believes the Sophia Gardens pitch to be largely orthodox, presenting few troubles to the batters, and is pleased with the conditions overall.
“It’s been quite a hot week, but we know the forecast, and although there was a bit of up-and-down, the wicket played quite nicely overall. There aren’t too many surprises in it, and it’s set up a good game of cricket,” he said.
With Nottinghamshire now staring down an 86-run deficit heading into day three, Montgomery is realistic about the position the side are in, but retains a degree of confidence in their ability.
“The message for us now is that it’s a one-innings game going forward. We’ve got to go out there and produce a big performance tomorrow,” he stated.
“If we can do that, and pick up a few [wickets] early on, we’ll back ourselves in a fourth-innings chase.”
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