County Championship: Northeast steers Glamorgan ahead of Nottinghamshire

Sam Northeast is in his second match of a three-year contract with Glamorgan

New signing Sam Northeast top-scored with 85 as Glamorgan reached 354-9 at Nottinghamshire, earning a first-innings lead of 52.

Opener David Lloyd (76) added 117 with Northeast for the third wicket.

Notts then struck back before a century stand from James Weighell (45) and Timm van der Gugten (56 not out) took the visitors ahead.

Joey Evison (3-67) was the most successful of the home attack, aided by Brett Hutton and Dane Paterson.

Number one ranked Test batsman Marnus Labuschagne fell third ball for just three on his Glamorgan return, lbw playing no shot to Hutton.

Lloyd hit nine boundaries in a forceful innings before Hutton claimed his second big wicket, having him caught at slip.

Former Kent and Hampshire stalwart Northeast, who played two matches for Nottinghamshire in 2021, looked in little difficulty with a classy knock.

But as in the home innings, the visitors found it difficult for batsmen to get themselves set as fifth seamer Evison claimed two quick wickets, and Glamorgan slipped from 163-2 to 248-8 when Northeast was finally bowled by a snorter from Paterson.

Notts looked certain to gain a first-innings lead but Weighell and Van der Gugten had other ideas as they survived and then prospered over the course of 25 overs.

Van der Gugten struck some beefy blows before quietly playing out the closing overs of another absorbing day.

Nottinghamshire bowling coach Kevin Shine said:

"At 248 for eight we were in a strong position, but tail-enders are almost a thing of the past now and those guys (Weighell and Van der Gugten) played very, very well at the end. That was a really good partnership.

"Our bowlers did not quite execute tonight but they will learn from that and there are still two days left in the game. And remember we have just won a game that most people thought might have been fizzling out before the guys found a way.

"It has been one of our poorer days for a year or so but that's because we have set very high standards of ourselves. We have not quite reached those today but we will come back and work out how we are going to take the game forward."

Glamorgan batter Sam Northeast told BBC Sport Wales:

"It was a good day in the end, especially that little partnership (Weighell and Van der Gugten) at the end which swung things back into our favour a bit, though there's a long way to go.

"It was tricky at times batting, it was pretty tough, but nice to get a (personal) score on the board although disappointed not to go on to three figures.

"It felt good for a large part of the innings as (the pitch) flattened out a bit, but they got it swinging and the ball started nipping again. We had a period exactly the same where we got it to swing.

"There's definitely something in the wicket for our bowlers and we can take a bit of confidence from that, but that partnership at the end has swung momentum in our favour."