A career-best 202 not out in eight and a half hours from Lance Klusener, captaining Northamptonshire for the first time, has given his side a good chance of maintaining their promotion push with victory over Glamorgan. The former South Africa all-rounder, badly dropped on 14 and 62, completed his second century of the season from 227 balls before accelerating to a maiden double hundred off 345 with 27 fours. In the process, he became the first Northamptonshire player this season to pass 1,000 championship runs, having also made nine fifties. Niall O'Brien, with a 168 from 303 balls, helped him add 211 in 70 overs.

O'Brien's doughty effort, compiled over six and a quarter hours at the crease, was his highest score in the championship. He was within sight of his career-best 176 for Ireland against United Arab Emirates at Windhoek in 2005 when he was stumped after being beaten in the flight going down the pitch to Dean Cosker. That was the only wicket of a morning session that Northamptonshire emphatically won to take control of the match.

Klusener received unexpectedly cussed support from Monty Panesar, who eked out an unbeaten 30 from 113 balls in an eighth wicket stand of 106 in 32 overs. Klusener sporadically emerged from periods of earnest defence to unleash violent assaults on the Welsh bowling. After reaching his hundred in an over from Cosker when he struck four fours, he repeated the treatment with four boundaries in one over from Alex Wharf. Robert Croft managed to contain him, conceding only 84 runs from his 49 overs, an achievement that earned him a warm ovation from home members despite his failure to take a wicket.

Faced with a first innings deficit of 201, not to mention the prospect of keeping out Panesar on a fourth-day pitch offering some turn, Glamorgan lost the wicket of their most consistent runscorer this season in the fifth over. Gareth Rees tried to work Johan van der Wath through the legside but got a leading edge to mid-on where who else but Klusener made good ground to take the catch. Panesar was introduced in the next over, but two overs later at 5.40pm, the umpires took the players off for bad light.

Glamorgan: First Innings 287 (M A Wallace 72, G P Rees 53; J J van der Wath 5 for 55)

Second Innings

G P Rees c Klusener b Van der Wath 13

R N Grant not out 1

*D L Hemp not out 7

Extras (lb 1, w 6) 7

Total (1 wkt, 8 overs) 28

Fall of wicket: 1-20.

Bowling: Van der Wath 4-1-17-1; Lucas 2-0-7-0; Panesar 2-0-3-0.

Northamptonshire: First Innings (overnight 213-4)

N J O'Brien st Wallace b Cosker 168

*L Klusener not out 202

A J Hall c Wallace b Wharf 16

J J van der Wath c Wallace b Gillespie 14

M S Panesar not out 30

Extras (b 10, lb 2, nb 4) 16

Total (7 wkts dec, 152 overs) 488

D S Lucas and J F Brown did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-41, 3-85, 4-103, 5-314, 6-360, 7-382.

Bowling: Gillespie 20-5-57-1; Shantry 16-2-68-3; Wharf 25-3-115-2; Grant 3-0-9-0; Croft 49-23-84-0; Cosker 27-5-101-1; Dalrymple 12-0-42-0.

Umpires: N L Bainton and N G Cowley.