County Championship: Chris Dent gives Gloucestershire strong start at Glamorgan

Gloucestershire opener Chris Dent's 75 was brought to an end after being bowled by Glamorgan's Andrew Salter

Gloucestershire's senior players Chris Dent and Graeme van Buuren put them in a strong position against Glamorgan as they reached 224-4 on day two in Cardiff, just 85 runs behind.

Dent made a patient 75 and Van Buuren a more aggressive 65 not out on a true batting surface.

Michael Hogan (1-26) and Andrew Salter (2-47) were the pick of the home attack.

Glamorgan scraped a third batting point before being dismissed for 309.

Gloucestershire only took 11.3 overs to wrap up the last four home wickets in the morning session, shared by David Payne and Ryan Higgins.

New recruit Eddie Byrom steered Glamorgan to the third batting point before being ninth out for 78 on home debut, dragging a ball from Payne onto his off stump.

The visitors started strongly either side of lunch before Miles Hammond (34) and Tom Lace (12) both fell to stunning catches from wicket-keeper Chris Cooke, off the economical Hogan and David Lloyd respectively.

The alliance of Dent and Van Buuren produced 94 runs to put Gloucestershire in control at 184-2, before Dent's patient 75 ended in strange fashion as he was bowled trying to ramp Andrew Salter, who then trapped Ryan Higgins lbw third ball.

Glamorgan were not consistent enough with the ball and Van Buuren finished the day with 11 boundaries to his credit, adding 40 with debutant wicket-keeper Ben Wells, who reached a composed 23 not out before bad light ended play 12 overs early.

Glamorgan batsman Eddie Byrom told BBC Sport Wales:

"I enjoyed it a lot, nice to get a score together, it was a pretty good pitch but there was always a ball with your name on it so you had to stay wary.

"We were happy with getting to 300 and I think we bowled pretty well, but Dent put us under pressure. Wickets have fallen in clusters so hopefully we can get a few early and go from there.

"Somerset didn't offer me a contract and (Glamorgan coach) Matt Maynard was my coach years ago at Somerset, so this was a place I looked to move to.

"Matt's a great guy, he gave me my first opportunity and saw what I could do, he was a great batter himself and can offer a lot in terms of advice."

Gloucestershire batsman Chris Dent told BBC Radio Bristol:

"It was nice Glamorgan didn't get too many in the morning because they do bat deep and they are quite dangerous.

"Miles and I rode our luck a bit but it was good to get through that and set a platform, since we've struggled a bit recently with losing early wickets.

"Graeme is a good man to bat with, he's come out to be positive all year, he batted fantastically and fingers crossed he can get a few more.

"It's still a pretty good pitch, it may break up a bit or spin a bit so we need to try to get a lead, get past them so that brings (spinner) Zafar Gohar and our other bowlers into the game."