Glamorgan v Northamptonshire: Gleeson haul puts visitors on top
- Published
Richard Gleeson was the pick of the Northamptonshire bowlers on day one in Cardiff
Specsavers County Championship Division Two, The SSE Swalec (day one): |
Glamorgan 207: Salter 59; Gleeson 5-60 |
Northamptonshire 59-2: Newton 31* |
Glamorgan 1 pt, Northants 3 pts |
Promotion-chasing Northamptonshire had the upper hand on day one of their County Championship Division Two match, as they reached 59-2 after hustling the home side out for just 207.
Richard Gleeson led the way with 5-60 in an accurate display of seam bowling.
A seventh-wicket stand of 97 between Andrew Salter (59) and Craig Meschede (49) looked set to rescue Glamorgan in Cardiff.
But Northants' bowlers started and finished the innings strongly.
Mohammad Azharullah (2-44) took two top-order wickets, while spinner Simon Kerrigan (2-29) started the second slump by having Meschede stumped on the charge.
Northants managed to overcome the loss of seamer Rory Kleinveldt, who was forced to stop bowling with an apparent leg muscle strain but did not leave the field, as captain Alex Wakely was already off having a finger injury checked.
In reply, the visitors lost Ben Duckett for 11 and David Murphy for nine before bad light intervened 15 overs early.
Glamorgan all-rounder Andrew Salter told BBC Wales Sport:
"Craig and me just wanted to take it ball by ball because it was quite tricky out there, we were happy with our partnership to a certain extent but we would like to have gone on.
"There was a bit in the wicket, it was quite slow and there were some tricky patches for us, but we tried to battle through.
"It's tough to score if you do bowl well, they showed that in some of their spells, so fingers crossed we can do the same."
Northants bowler Richard Gleeson told BBC Radio Northampton:
"I felt in good rhythm from the start, and five wickets is always a nice achievement. We knew that if we got one wicket (during the Salter/Meschede stand), then they would probably come quickly, it's one of those wickets where they can come in clusters.
"Since I've come back from injury and after the T20s, I've been taking wickets, maybe a bit expensive a times, so it was nice today to have a bit of control with it.
"The Gloucestershire game that got rained off in the end was a big one for us, but we're still in the hunt for promotion, so all we can do is try to win games and hope they (top two Notts and Worcestershire) slip up."