County Championship: Durham's BJ Watling frustrates Glamorgan
- Published
Australian paceman Michael Hogan was the pick of Glamorgan's bowlers
Specsavers County Championship Division Two, Emirates Riverside (day one): |
Durham 197-6: Watling 83*; Hogan 4-31 |
Glamorgan: Yet to bat |
Durham 0 pts, Glamorgan 2 pts |
Durham's new recruit BJ Watling held his side together with 83 not out as they reached 197-6 to frustrate promotion-chasing Glamorgan.
Veteran Michael Hogan took an economical 4-31 while Lukas Carey (1-39) also kept the pressure on.
But the visitors' seamers were not quite consistent enough after they decided to bowl first.
New Zealand international Watling's industrious knock came off 175 balls in his second match for Durham.
Opener Alex Lees (45) and Ben Raine (26 not out) were the only other Durham batsmen to get going.
The opening day was limited to 71 overs after water got under the covers and caused a 90-minute delay in bright sunshine, while bad light knocked another nine overs off the evening session.
The match is remarkable for having a wicket at one side of the square leaving one boundary nearly twice the width of the other.
But Glamorgan could view the day as a missed opportunity as rivals Gloucestershire slumped to 80-6 against Northants.
Durham batsman BJ Watling told BBC Newcastle:
"It was a reasonable effort from the boys and we're quite happy with where we are, but we definitely need a few more runs to make sure we have a decent first-innings total.
"I wasn't thinking about the hundred, just getting as many runs as possible as Rainey came in and blunted their flurry of wickets to make it a reasonably strong position.
"It's always a challenge coming over here (from a Test series in Sri Lanka). These boys know how to bowl in their conditions and they ask a lot of your defensive game, so it's awesome to get this sort of experience."
Glamorgan bowler Michael Hogan told BBC Sport Wales:
"We would have liked to have taken a few more wickets, we bowled nicely and Lukas Carey was unlucky, but they've played well and it was probably an even day.
"It's probably a wicket that suits my game, there's a bit of nibble, a bit in the air and I'm trying to hit the top of the stumps.
"The boys are pretty happy in the dressing room, we've approached this week (promotion) without putting too much pressure on ourselves. There'll be a lot of hard work with the bat but if we apply ourselves like we did last week (in the win against Leicestershire) we can come away with a decent total."