County Championship: Northeast and Carlson put Glamorgan on top against Leicestershire

Kiran Carlson top scored with 91 as Glamorgan closed in on Leicestershire's first-innings 320

Glamorgan closed in on Leicestershire's first-innings total of 320 after a partnership of 182 between Sam Northeast and Kiran Carlson.

The home side slipped to 63-3 after lunch before the pair came together.

Leicestershire's bowlers fought back in the evening session as Carlson fell for 91 and Northeast for 84.

Chris Cooke and debutant Andy Gorvin calmly steered Glamorgan to the close before bad light stopped play with two scheduled overs remaining.

Chris Wright was the pick of Leicestershire's bowlers, finishing with 3-65.

Leicestershire will be disappointed to have dropped Cooke on nine, with wicketkeeper Harry Swindells putting down a straightforward chance that could have shifted the momentum their way in the evening session.

Leicestershire resumed on 285-8 and managed to pass 300 in the first innings for the first time this season before Michael Hogan had Wright caught behind and Marnus Labuschagne ran out Callum Parkinson - the third run out of the innings.

Captain David Lloyd fell early in Glamorgan's response as Swindells took a brilliant one-handed diving catch to his right.

Labuschagne steadied the ship alongside makeshift opener Andrew Salter before the world's number one batter fell from the last ball before lunch, unnecessarily pulling a short ball from Ben Mike straight to fine leg for 17.

Salter was caught behind off Wright for 26 with Glamorgan precariously placed at 63-3 but Carlson and Northeast eased any concerns of a collapse, as they batted fluently and looked untroubled to move the score onto 220 at tea without any more wickets falling.

Carlson fell short of his century, lbw to become the impressive Wright's third victim, while Northeast fell in the same manner for Mike's second.

Gorvin, on his Championship debut for Glamorgan, survived a close lbw call and Cooke survived his dropped chance to negotiate the final overs under gloomy Cardiff skies.

Despite a late comeback of sorts from Leicestershire, Glamorgan remain in control of the innings as they look to establish a commanding lead.

Glamorgan batter Kiran Carlson told BBC Sport Wales:

"Our aim for the day was to take those last two wickets as quickly as possible and then bat out the day and see where we are at.

"So it's nice to be within their score and with the wickets in the shed.

"Me and Sam [Northeast] got in a nice position, we were just doing our thing but it's a shame we didn't kick on. It would've been nice to just be three down at the end of the day but I enjoyed the partnership and he played beautifully.

"There is still something in the pitch for the bowlers but it is flat at times too. It's one of those where if you take one wicket two or three can fall quickly."

Leicestershire bowler Chris Wright told BBC Radio Leicester:

"Across the two days we've had two bad sessions really, that middle one today and last night which is why we've got the game in the balance now.

"We bowled well after tea, we got those wickets but the economy was just too high over the whole innings. We've got to keep controlling the scoreboard and get some early wickets with the new ball in the morning.

"There is some movement, but it's not a quick pitch so it's quite frustrating. As a bowler you've got to be really clear with your plan.

"We had them at 63-3 with the world's best Test batter out, but we weren't quite able to stack it up in the middle and they're a good side with attacking players and they punished us."