Glamorgan 186 and 137 for 1 (Labuschagne 77*) trail Sussex 420 (Brown 131) by 97 runs
Glamorgan’s Nick Selman and Marnus Labuschagne put together an unbroken second-wicket stand of 137 to frustrate Sussex on the second day of their Specsavers County Championship match at Hove.
Already armed with a first-innings lead of 234, after they had been bowled out for 420 in their first innings, Sussex seemed to be in control when Mir Hamza had Charlie Hemphrey lbw in the first over without a run on the board. But the two Australians played with increasing authority during the final session with Labuschagne 77 and Selman 45 at stumps.
After 15 wickets fell on day one the surface offered fewer problems for batsmen prepared to sit in and wait for the bad balls – a tactic the Glamorgan pair were happy to adopt as they reduced their arrears to 97, reaching stumps on 137 for 1.
Earlier, Sussex skipper Ben Brown had made 131 – his 17th first-class century – as he backed up his 156 in last week’s drawn game against Northamptonshire with another chanceless hundred. Together with David Wiese, he took the initiative away from Glamorgan in the first session when 140 runs were scored with the sixth-wicket pair putting on 107 in 25 overs.
Glamorgan used seven bowlers but struggled to stop Sussex progressing at nearly five runs an over, even after Wiese was bowled by Timm van der Gugten via an inside edge for Glamorgan’s only wicket during the morning session. Brown then joined forces with Chris Jordan to add 55 for the seventh wicket after reaching his hundred from 146 balls with 13 fours when he took a single off Labuschagne in the 65th over.
After lunch he added a further four boundaries and a six off Marchant de Lange, which Billy Root initially seemed to have caught only to step back behind the rope. In attempting a similar shot later in the over, Brown gave Root a more comfortable catch running in from deep midwicket. Brown struck 15 fours in total and faced 190 balls.
Danny Briggs was caught in the covers off de Lange who also picked up Hamza to finish with 3 for 89. Legspinner Labuschagne took 3 for 61 including Jordan, who was caught behind pushing forward when he appeared well set.
Glamorgan were immediately in trouble when they went in again 234 behind. Hemphrey was beaten by Hamza’s late in-swing off the sixth ball of the innings to complete a pair.
But Selman, who carried his bat in the first innings, and Labuschagne took advantage of benign conditions after tea to take the fight back to Sussex. Labuschagne took three boundaries in an over off Hamza to move to his half-century and none of the six bowlers employed by Brown could make a breakthrough in the final session.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo