County Championship: Van der Gugten puts Glamorgan on top v Gloucestershire

Timm van der Gugten starred for Glamorgan as Gloucestershire struggled to 165 all out on a day delayed by showers and a hover-cover breakdown.

Van der Gugten claimed five wickets in the evening session to put Glamorgan on top, as they finished 4-0 in reply.

Australian Marcus Harris held the early stages of the Gloucestershire innings together with a composed knock of 59.

The mechanical malfunction saw the cover stuck on the square to hold up play.

A torrential downpour four balls into the day's play saw one of its engines break down as it reached the middle.

An early lunch had to be taken with the rain returning 10 minutes into the afternoon session as the groundstaff did their best with temporary sheeting.

Groundstaff had to wrestle with a malfunctioning cover on a rain-affected first day

It was tough going for the Shire on a seaming pitch and Harry Podmore, playing his first game for Glamorgan for six years, had Chris Dent caught behind for three.

Harris, who played in Australia's Sheffield Shield final less than a fortnight previously, was happy to grind it out in very different conditions as Glamorgan's change bowlers failed to keep up the pressure.

He shared a stand of 66 with James Bracey, who fell to David Lloyd for 33 on the stroke of tea.

Van der Gugten then took over as he ran through the middle order with four lbw decisions in quick succession in a hostile spell to pass 200 first-class victims for Glamorgan, as the visitors looked like rabbits caught in the headlights.

When James Harris bowled namesake Marcus, Gloucestershire had lost six wickets for 37.

Zafar Gohar (27) and Tom Price (27 not out) stopped the rot with a stand of 46, but Van der Gugten returned to dismiss Zafar - courtesy of a smart low catch from Cooke - to claim his five-wicket haul, and Dan Douthwaite wrapped up the last two wickets.

Van der Gugten then had to return for night-watchman duties against former team-mate Marchant de Lange, but survived the only over.

Glamorgan's Timm van der Gugten told BBC Sport Wales:

"As a first day we would definitely have taken that as a team, winning the toss and bowling, it was nice to make inroads with the ball and be out there with the bat already.

"It's a big day ahead, by all means it's not an easy wicket to bat on, so we've going to try our hardest to get through the new ball and bat for as long as we can to get some sort of lead.

"The wicket has a fair bit in it, the wetter the wicket, the harder you've got to hit your lengths. (Before the cover breakdown) there was a fair bit of moisture already. I'm not going to complain but it made the ball quite wet at times.

"The Gloucester boys have had a torrid time trying to get out and play (pre-season games), so getting away to Zimbabwe for our squad was great."

Gloucestershire's Marcus Harris told BBC Radio Bristol:

"It was on and off with the weather, we weren't sure what to make of the wicket, and 165 was probably a little bit under what we should have got after going into tea on two for 71.

"220 to 240 may be par but there's enough in the wicket if we bowl well. There's moisture in the wicket all day and the challenge for them was to keep the ball dry.

"For us it was about getting yourself in and giving yourself a chance but you never really felt in. From one end, the ball came on all right but from the other it didn't.

"Timm bowled really well, I haven't faced him since he played for New South Wales a while ago, he hit the seam and (aimed to) hit the top of the stumps all day so that's probably a blueprint of how we show bowl."