Wickets shared on hard-fought opening day in Cardiff
Mon 24 Sep 2018
SCORE | Day 1 of 4, Specsavers County Championship: Glamorgan CCC 331-8 v Leicestershire CCC
SCORECARD | Available through ESPN Cricinfo
REACTION | Tom Taylor spoke to BBC Radio Leicester’s Richard Rae at stumps
HIGHLIGHTS | In-play highlights are available throughout the 2018 season
REPORT | Leicestershire CCC’s bowling attack shared the wickets but Glamorgan CCC battled their way to 331 for eight on a hard-fought opening day of the final Specsavers County Championship game of the season.
Tom Taylor and Callum Parkinson each claimed a brace of wickets while Gavin Griffiths, Ben Mike, Dieter Klein and Colin Ackermann took one apiece at Sophia Gardens.
On a day where the bowlers kept running in and working hard in hot temperatures for September, the home side offered plenty of resistance.
Kiran Carlson underpinned the home side’s effort with a fine 83, while Craig Meschede (55) batted for a lengthy period to feature in a couple of useful partnerships.
Although it was a glorious morning in Cardiff, there had been plenty of rain in the south of Wales over the weekend, so the Foxes understandably opted to bowl first.
Leicestershire CCC were without the new ball attack from the previous game as Muhammad Abbas has joined up with Pakistan ahead of their test series against Australia while Neil Dexter (foot) joined Zak Chappell and Ben Raine on the sidelines.
Taylor became the 479th player to represent Leicestershire CCC in the Specsavers County Championship after being handed his cap by Head Coach Paul Nixon before play, and Klein also returned to the XI.
A steady opening stand yielded 20 before Taylor got off to a perfect start, rapping Nick Selman (14) on the pads to land his first wicket in a Foxes shirt.
It was very nearly two wickets in two balls as Taylor hit in-form Jack Murphy with a full delivery first up, but the ball pitched just outside leg. The bowler had his second wicket before the spell was finished, however, as Murphy (0) drove to a diving Mike at backward point.
Carlson collected a trio of boundaries as the score reached 50 by the end of the 13th over, and the young batsman continued to accumulate alongside South Africa opener Stephen Cook.
It was a bit of a stop-start session with two pauses because of water coming up in the bowlers’ footholes at both ends, and another as protective equipment came on with Parkinson entering the attack to bowl the 23rd over from the Cathedral Road End.
A drive for two from Carlson took the stand to 50, and by the time that the young batsman had cut a boundary later in the 25th over, the batsman had overtaken his colleague.
Cook steered his fourth boundary through wide mid-on but fell in the penultimate over before lunch. Parkinson trapped him right in front with one that straightened to hit the back pad in front of middle stump.
Three consecutive boundaries were scored in the 28th over including a superb drive through mid-on by Carlson, who lunched on 48 with Glamorgan CCC at 109 for three.
Carlson reached 50 from 70 balls with his eighth four, an inside edge that somehow found the boundary at fine-leg, but there was nothing fortunate about his next few boundaries, including a trio of classy cover drives.
To underline Carlson’s dominance in terms of scoring, Jeremy Lawlor shared 46 runs with his colleague before getting off the mark with a two from his 19th delivery.
Carlson progressed the alliance to 52 with his 15th four before the innings came to an unfortunate end as he dragged Mike on to his wicket 17 shy of a century.
When Klein jagged one back in sharply to pin Lawlor (2) lbw in the 37th over, Chris Cooke and Meschede were paired together on nought, and the Foxes were in the ascendancy given a score of 148 for three had suddenly become 148 for five.
The duo regrouped with Cooke and Meschede both finding the boundary on four occasions as the stand reached 50 in 10.1 overs.
A quieter period followed as Griffiths and Parkinson controlled the scoring rate, and that led to the second bowling point as the seamer gained some deserved reward after extracting an edge from Cooke (27).
Meschede and Graham Wagg added a further 21 runs before tea as Glamorgan CCC went in at 228 for six, and there was further frustration after the interval as the duo extended their partnership to 50.
It was spin at both ends as Ackermann introduced himself alongside Parkinson, and although Meschede recorded 50 from 107 balls (7x4), the move had the desired effect.
The 61-run alliance was broken as Parkinson landed his second leg before wicket dismissal of the day, Wagg departing for 28, and a second wicket fell at 268 as Meschede (55) cut Ackermann to Klein at point.
Griffiths and Taylor took the new ball immediately but there was another stubborn stand from Kieran Bull (14*) and Timm van der Gugten (40*), who sent a number of neat drives to the ropes in the fifth partnership to reach 50.
TEAM | Javid, Evans, Ackermann (capt), Cosgrove, Dearden, Hill (wk), Mike, Parkinson, Taylor, Klein, Griffiths.
FIGURES | Griffiths 18-7-50-1, Taylor 18-2-70-2, Klein 18-5-60-1, Mike 16-2-80-1, Parkinson 19-4-51-2, Cosgrove 2-0-2-0, Ackermann 5-2-9-1.
PHOTO | Thanks to John Mallett for the photo of Tom Taylor celebrating his first wicket today.
* Leicestershire CCC’s final Specsavers County Championship game is against Glamorgan CCC. Follow the latest throughout the game on our social media channels @leicsccc
