Glamorgan 167 for 5 (Labuschagne 37) v Derbyshire
Glamorgan reached 167 for 5 on a rain-affected first day of their Specsavers Championship match at the St Helen’s ground in Swansea. Four batsmen were dismissed between 28 and 37 as a day that started late was ended by bad light 24.3 overs before the scheduled close.
Derbyshire’s seamers kept a tight rein and made the batsmen work hard for their runs, Marnus Labuschagne the only man to prosper while hitting six fours and a six in 37 from 36 balls.
There was no play before lunch and following an uncontested toss Tony Palladino struck with the fourth ball of the innings when he had Nick Selman leg before – the batsman attempting to turn a straight ball to leg.
Labuschagne and Charlie Hemphrey then shared a partnership of 54 for the second wicket, with Labuschagne the dominant partner. The Australia Test batsman scored freely and it came as something of a surprise when he edged a catch to slip in Luis Reece’s opening over.
Hemphrey played a more patient innings, taking 74 balls to score 32, before he was also trapped leg before by Palladino, who bowled a steady second spell on a pitch where was enough encouragement for the five Derbyshire seamers.
Glamorgan’s acting captain David Lloyd, who has been short of runs recently, struck some early boundaries, and started to get into his stride when he drove Logan van Beek to cover, where Tom Lace did well to hold on to a low catch.
After his career-best 229 against Northants last week, Billy Root struck some early boundaries, but after scoring 28, sliced a catch to slip, where Wayne Madsen, in the freezing conditions, held on to a sharp catch.
Owen Morgan, who has deserved his chance in his first Championship game of the season after some impressive performances for the 2nd XI, was undefeated on 28 with Dan Douthwaite on 5 when the umpires mercifully ended play on a day more suited to November than early June.
“We would have taken that score after the uncontested toss,” Lloyd said at the close. “It was quite tricky at times and although most of the batsmen got into the thirties, no one managed to kick on. You never felt in, although they bowled well throughout. It is up to us to kick on in the morning and build on the overnight score.”
Source: ESPN Crickinfo