County Championship: Lloyd stars as Glamorgan take control against Kent

Marnus Labuschagne was out cheaply in his first innings back for Glamorgan since 2019

Marnus Labuschagne had an eventful return for Glamorgan in the County Championship - suffering a trip as he made his way from the pavilion before falling for just 11 runs.

Glamorgan's bowlers dominated the opening day against Kent in Cardiff.

David Lloyd starred for Glamorgan, taking his best first-class figures of 4-11 as Kent were all out for just 138.

With the bat, Lloyd made 54 not out to take Glamorgan to 109-2 at the close of play, leaving them 29 runs behind.

Veteran seamer Darren Stevens was the pick of Kent's bowlers as he took 2-31.

Having been put in to bat after losing the toss, Kent made a solid start with their opening pair putting on 54 and their top three all making it past 30.

But Lloyd and Timm van der Gugten (4-41) made the most of cloudy skies in the afternoon and a slightly green wicket to justify Chris Cooke's decision to bowl first.

Stevens, on the eve of his 45th birthday, made an immediate impact to remove Joe Cooke for a duck before claiming the prized wicket of Labuschagne after a fascinating battle between bat and ball after tea.

There was some concern earlier in the day as Labuschagne was off the field receiving treatment for a hand injury, but scans showed no damage and he was able to bat.

After a couple of rain delays, Kent's change bowlers struggled to back up the efforts of Stevens and fellow opening bowler Matt Milnes as Lloyd and Billy Root added 76 for the third wicket to end the day firmly in control.

Glamorgan bowler Timm van der Gugten told BBC Sport Wales:

"We're pretty happy with where we stand, it was a nice toss to win and we bowled really well as a unit, then the way Lloydy and Bill [Root] batted at the end was great.

"David deserved a five-for. He bowled outstandingly and the way he batted was very positive so hopefully he can carry that on.

"It's nice to contribute myself and take a few wickets, we bowled well after the first hour when we dragged our length back a bit.

"Marnus got a good one off Stevo, he might be a little jet-lagged still and tripped down the stairs before we got onto the field but he's a great player and he'll be right to go, further into the game."

Kent head coach Matt Walker told BBC Radio Kent:

"It wasn't good enough in any aspect today, it was very disappointing to go from 88-1 to 130-odd all out.

"They bowled very well and had some useful conditions, but their lengths were very good and got quite a bit out of the wicket.

"Given how poorly we bowled, that probably highlighted our low score even more.

"But it's day one, wickets can fall quickly on this type of surface so we've got to have a much better day tomorrow if we want to stand any chance of winning this game."