Michael Powell made a patient 90 for Glamorgan on an intriguing third day of the Frizzell County Championship Division Two match with fellow promotion hopefuls Gloucestershire at Bristol.

Adrian Dale, Matthew Maynard and David Hemp all shared in partnerships with Powell as the Welsh county reached 276-9 in their second innings for an overall lead of 344.

Glamorgan were also indebted to David Harrison and Mike Kasprowicz, who have so far put on 47 for the last wicket with a succession of lusty blows.

Ian Harvey and Swindon's Jon Lewis have taken three wickets apiece for Gloucestershire, but the home side look like facing a daunting run chase on the final day.

Glamorgan grabbed the initiative by taking Gloucestershire's last three first-innings wickets in the opening half-hour's play for the addition of 26 runs.

Harvey and Lewis then shared the new ball and both made an early breakthrough to encourage the home side, Lewis holding a return catch to dismiss Jimmy Maher.

Dale contributed 27 to a third-wicket stand of 49 before he drove at a ball from Averis which cut back off the seam and fell lbw.

Then Maynard, having put on 65 with Powell, drove a return catch to off-spinner Martyn Ball to depart for 33.

Powell had his third century of the season in his sights when he played down the wrong line at Lewis and was given out lbw by umpire Graham Burgess, having struck 13 fours in his 174-ball innings.

His dismissal prompted a collapse which saw five wickets fall for 29 runs in the space of 12 overs.

SCOREBOARD

First Test Match, Karachi: Bangladesh 288 (Habibul Bashar 71) v Pakistan 301-5 (Yasir Hameed 170).

Fourth npower Test Match, Headingley: South Africa 260-7 (G Kirsten 109 no, J A Rudolph 55, M Zondeki 50 no) v England.

Frizzell County Championship Division One, Old Trafford: Lancashire 363-3 (M B Loye 137, M J Chilton 125) v Middlesex; Grace Road: Surrey 349-4 (R Clarke 90 no, G P Thorpe 87, I J Ward 59, M R Ramprakash 55, J N Batty 50) v Leicestershire; Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 177 (K P Pietersen 100, M J Saggers 5-42) & 126 (M Muralitharan 6-36), Kent 242 (M A Ealham 83) & 65-1 Kent (18pts) beat Nottinghamshire (3pts) by 9 wkts; Colchester: Sussex 612 (M W Goodwin 210, M J Prior 153 no, R R Montgomerie 97, J D Lewry 70, Mohammad Akram 5-130), Essex 283 (D D J Robinson 64, W I Jefferson 55, A Flower 50, Mushtaq Ahmed 4-87) & 23-0.

Division Two, Derby: Derbyshire 138 (R M Khan 76, J W Cook 4-35) & 66-0, Northamptonshire 647-5 dec (D J G Sales 200 no, P A Jaques 123, M E K Hussey 115, J W Cook 85, M J Powell 50, K J Dean 4-145); Riverside: Durham 515 (M L Love 273, G J Pratt 66), Hampshire 88-4; New Road: Somerset 296 (M Burns 89, M J Wood 53) & 32-4, Worcestershire 331 (S D Peters 103, G J Batty 52 no); Bristol: Glamorgan 331 (M P Maynard 85, D L Hemp 69 no, J Lewis 5-66) & 276-9 (M J Powell 90), Gloucestershire 263 (A P R Gidman 68, T H C Hancock 64, A G Wharf 4-53).

Second Womens Test Match, Taunton: South Africa Women 130 (L C Pearson 4-25) & 67-3, England Women 455 (S C Taylor 131, L Greenway 66, R A Birch 62).