County Championship: Reports on five Division One games and four in Division Two

Craig Overton has taken 25 County Championship wickets for Somerset this season

Division One

Northants (180 & 151-6) v Somerset (351)

Somerset's seamers were in ruthless mood as they bulldozed Northamptonshire's fragile batting line-up and enforced the follow-on to move within sight of victory at Wantage Road.

Matt Henry's shrewd seam bowling, coupled with Craig Overton's brutal pace and bounce, proved a potent combination as 16 wickets fell on the second day, with the duo picking up six apiece overall.

Northamptonshire were dismissed for 180 in their first innings and inserted again despite Ricardo Vasconcelos hitting a season's best 78, with Henry taking 3-36 and Overton 4-50.

The home side stumbled to 151-6 second time around before bad light brought play to a halt, still needing 20 more to prevent what would be their fifth innings defeat this season.

Henry was a handful straight away when Northamptonshire began their response to the visitors' first-innings total of 351, making the ball move both ways and persuading Emilio Gay to nibble the fifth delivery of the morning into James Rew's gloves.

Despite registering successive boundaries off Henry, Justin Broad soon followed - forced to play at one that left him and edging to first slip to leave the home side in difficulty at 17-2.

There was also a near escape for Vasconcelos, his thick edge off Overton whistling through the slips for Northamptonshire's first scoring shot in 31 balls but, despite plenty of playing and missing at Henry, he weathered the storm.

The left-hander looked far more comfortable against Somerset's change bowlers, drilling a series of crisp boundaries through the off side - and the 10th of those, sweetly struck off Overton, brought up his half-century from 76 balls.

By then he had lost Sam Whiteman, playing on to Lewis Gregory and Henry returned for a pre-lunch spell to keep Somerset in the ascendancy by prising out Luke Procter, taken low at first slip.

Vasconcelos continued in similar vein after the interval, looking on course for a first century of the season until he was undone by a ball from Gregory that veered away to hit off stump - triggering a further surge of wickets.

Overton was the chief architect of Northamptonshire's collapse during a fearsome second spell, having Rob Keogh caught in the slips and ripping out the off stump of Lewis McManus before Ben Sanderson feathered one behind.

Running out of partners, Saif Zaib did his best to propel the home side past the follow-on target with a lively knock of 38, including two colossal sixes off Kasey Aldridge, but fell short when he skied Overton and was taken by Shoaib Bashir, running back on the leg side.

Somerset had no hesitation in putting the hosts back in and Vasconcelos was soon on his way for the second time in the session, caught behind off Henry - who also trapped Gay lbw shuffling across.

With Broad also departing leg before to Gregory, Northamptonshire sank to 29-3, but Procter and Zaib - back at the crease barely half an hour after his dismissal - displayed some grit to slow the Somerset charge.

However, neither Zaib nor Rob Keogh, another leg before victim for Henry, managed to build on promising starts and it was left to the skipper to tough it out with an undefeated 37 while Taylor went for his shots.

The all-rounder clubbed Overton for successive boundaries to reach a brisk 24 not out from 17 balls before darkening skies prompted the umpires to halt proceedings with 8.4 overs still remaining.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.

Essex (458-8 dec) v Kent (207 & 4-1)

Matt Critchley's second century of the season put Essex in the driving seat for a fourth successive County Championship victory on a strange day of substitutes and concussion repercussions at Chelmsford.

The 26-year-old faced just 168 balls in rattling up 117 runs as Essex put Kent to the sword while building a first-innings lead of 251.

Critchley entered at 158-3 and departed 64 overs later on 408-7 when he picked out long-leg to give part-time spinner Jack Leaning a rare wicket.

In between Critchley shared a century stand with Simon Harmer - who hit a swashbuckling season's best 83 not out from 92 balls - and other partnerships worth 71 and 49 with Paul Walter and Adam Rossington respectively. In the process the former Derbyshire all-rounder took his season's tally in the Championship past 700 runs.

Sir Alastair Cook had laid the foundations with a 176-ball 87, but some lusty late six-hitting by Critchley, Harmer and Doug Bracewell gilded the lily as Essex declared on 458-8.

Hamid Qadri bore the brunt with figures of three for 120, while the Indian international Arshdeep Singh returned best Championship analysis of 3-58.

And to cap Essex's day, Twanda Muyeye departed to the last ball of the five overs left for Kent to see out when he went lbw pushing forward to Sam Cook for nought. Kent finished on 4-1.

But the real drama of the day came before play with the news that Nick Browne had retired hurt after feeling groggy overnight and failing an off-field concussion test.

The left-handed opener was hit on the head by a short ball from Arshdeep Singh in the evening session but batted on for a further two and a half overs before being visibly ill after the penultimate delivery of the day. He then passed an on-field check and saw out the over.

Robin Das, who had originally stood in as the nominated substitute while Dan Lawrence made his way back from Old Trafford where he was stood down by England, then became Browne's replacement.

Das lasted five balls before he became another entry in the scorebook that needed an asterisk: the concussion substitute was caught by the substitute wicketkeeper Harry Finch, standing in for Jordan Cox who further depleted Kent's resources with a thigh injury.

Having put on 117 for the first wicket, thanks to the efforts of three men - but mainly Cook - Essex lost another almost immediately when Tom Westley was trapped lbw to give Arshdeep a second wicket.

Cook had looked in sparkling form the night before, stroking a dozen boundaries in his 64. But he batted for a further hour-and-a-half in the morning session, adding just 23 runs from 70 balls before looking a little disconsolate at being judged lbw to former Essex seamer Matt Quinn.

Lawrence, having made the journey down from Manchester, played an entertaining cameo of 25 that included an effortless six over midwicket before he attempted to sweep Hamid Qadri in a similar direction only to become a third lbw victim.

Critchley hammered Qadri over long-leg for the six that took Essex beyond Kent's first-innings 207 with only four wickets down, though it had taken them 17 overs longer. However, Walter's 90-ball 45 was ended by the third delivery with the new-ball as he played down the wrong line to Arshdeep.

Rossington twice straight-drove Joey Evison for fours in a bright partnership with Critchley before he was deceived by Qadri's flight and turned to see his stumps disturbed.

Once Harmer had got off the mark to his 28th ball, he cut loose and needed just another 51 balls for his half-century, reached with a huge six off Qadri. But it was Critchley who caught the eye with some breathtaking, but orthodox hitting, and reach three-figures from 161 balls by pulling Quinn through midwicket for his 14th boundary that included two maximums.

Harmer, with five maximum, traded maximums with Doug Bracewell off the beleaguered Kent spinners before the New Zealander was stumped to prompt the declaration.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.

Warwickshire (179-5) v Lancashire (327)

Warwickshire skipper Will Rhodes led a spirited response with a season's best 82 as the Bears rallied gamely against Lancashire on day two at Edgbaston.

Responding to the George Balderson-inspired Lancashire total of 327, the hosts closed on 179-5, still trailing by 148, with half their men gone.

After the loss of two early wickets, young Red Rose all-rounder Balderson managed to complete his maiden first-class century.

From their overnight 295-7, Balderson went on to finish unbeaten on 116 when the Lancashire innings ended - but his 30-run last-wicket stand with spinner Jack Morley also at least took them to a second batting bonus point.

That briefly looked off the agenda when tail-ender Tom Bailey fell for his overnight career-best score of 75 to the second ball of the day, even before the nearby Birmingham University tower bell had finished tolling its 11 o'clock chimes.

It ended a superb 145-run eighth-wicket stand when Bailey was lbw to Mir Hamza, who then trapped Will Williams the same way with just two more runs added in his next over.

But, on his 44th ball in the nervous nineties before he got to his ton, Balderson's own career-best, after twice in the past being out on scores of 91 and 97, helped Lancashire reach a score that looked a long way off when they had been 150-7 midway through the previous afternoon.

Fired-up Bailey and Williams then made immediate inroads, removing both Bears openers.

Lancashire old boy Alex Davies plundered two boundaries but was then bowled by Williams from the fourth ball of the second over, then Rob Yates was caught behind in Bailey's third over.

Rhodes was joined by Sam Hain, in a third-wicket stand of 68. But, after returning from a post-lunch rain break, the in-form Balderson had Bears top run scorer Hain trapped in front on 15.

It still really looked like being the Bears' day when Dan Mousley helped captain Rhodes add a further 77.

But Rhodes was trapped in front by Bailey then, just five overs later, Balderson struck again to get Ed Barnard caught behind - and leave Mousley on 45, alongside Danny Briggs, on 3, with more repair work to be done for the title hopefuls on day three.

Middlesex (179-5) v Surrey (433)

John Simpson and Max Holden shared a century stand to give Middlesex hope of saving the follow-on against reigning champions Surrey on day two at Lord's.

The hosts, with only two batting bonus points all season were in dire straits at 53-4 in response to the visitors' 433 all out, but former England U19 Holden 55 and redoubtable wicket-keeper Simpson added 116 for the fifth wicket.

Holden fell shortly before the close, but a defiant Simpson will take guard on day three 55 not out with Middlesex 179-5, Sean Abbot taking two of the wickets.

Earlier Surrey passed 400 with day one centurion Jamie Smith finishing on 138 and Jordan Clark 78, Tom Helm completing a career-best 6-110 for the hosts.

Stand-in skipper Mark Stoneman briefly suggested a positive response to Surrey's substantial first innings total, creaming two early off drives through the covers, but it proved a false dawn as with only 11 against his name he feathered a good one from Clark through to wicketkeeper Ben Foakes.

It would be the 'Brown Hats' only success for some while, but a combination of tight seam bowling and a lack of intent from Pieter Malan and Sam Robson - the latter for some reason batting at three - meant the hosts crawled along at two runs per over.

Perhaps that explains the rash cross-bat swish by South African Malan to an innocuous ball from Jamie Overton which took the under-edge, giving Foakes a second comfortable catch.

As too often this season, the departure of one Middlesex batter led to three falling for the addition of 10 runs in 39 balls.

Robson, a centurion last week at Merchant Taylors' was undone by one from Sean Abbott which came back into him up the slope and went off the inside edge onto the stumps via the thigh pad.

A torturous period of the afternoon for the hosts concluded with Jack Davies, in the side for the injured Stephen Eskinazi, taking 18 balls to get off the mark only to then fence at one from Tom Lawes, sending it into the hands of Dom Sibley at slip.

The bell summoning the players back after tea sounded like a death knell for the beleaguered home side, but to their credit Holden and Simpson showed some intestinal fortitude.

Holden, displayed some of the T20 form which earned a wildcard pick from the Manchester Originals for the upcoming Hundred, driving well off front and back foot, while Simpson played one delightful cut and acquired an all run four courtesy of an overthrow.

Overton tried some chin music ala England, but Holden's sixth four through third man took him to his second championship half century of the season from 93 balls before Simpson too found the fence to raise the century stand.

Simpson's own half century came in the grand manner with a six into the Mound Stand, but just as it looked as if Middlesex would reach the sanctity of stumps without further loss, Abbott found the edge of Holden's bat and a diving Sibley did the rest.

Earlier, Surrey resumed on 312-5, and save for a six over square leg by Clark off Ryan Higgins, made steady, unspectacular progress before first day century maker Smith was castled by Helm from one which came back through the gate.

Clark eased his way to a 91-ball 50 though he was later unsettled, not to say frustrated by Ethan Bamber beating him outside the off stump with five successive deliveries. The young seamer, who had somehow gone wicketless on day one finally got reward when Abbott hoisted him into the hands of Malan at deep square.

Clark's fine effort ended when Tim Murtagh got one to bounce and take the edge which flew to Robson at slip and while a few lusty blows from Overton delayed the lunch interval, Helm cleaned up the tail for his first ever six-for in championship cricket.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.

Notts (100 & 11-0, target 411) v Hampshire (166 & 344-5 dec)

Under leaden skies, on a still treacherous pitch, the batters came and went until Ian Holland took a hand. By an hour after lunch at Trent Bridge, 24 had succumbed in all, their average life expectancy 30 balls, the average partnership 14.8 runs.

But for the second time in the match Holland regained control, paving a path for Liam Dawson's punishing dash at the other end.

Following his four late Nottinghamshire wickets on Wednesday, Holland's application in an invaluable, un-Bazball like 138 not out from 251 balls was complemented by Dawson's 82 from 111 during a fifth-wicket alliance of 150 that grasped this County Championship game for Hampshire.

Rubbing it in, James Fuller swatted a violent unbeaten 52 at the end before a declaration with two overs left.

Resuming earlier, Nottinghamshire survived three overs before their remaining five wickets were suddenly swept away for as many runs in 35 balls by Kyle Abbott and Mohammad Abbas. Blink and another had fallen. Out for exactly 100, they trailed by 66 on first innings.

From 89-4 when Hampshire batted again, however, as the pitch slowly yielded its demons, Holland, the opener, resolute at one end, and Dawson prospered in afternoon sun to help set a target of 411 by the close reached with Nottinghamshire on eight without loss. Holland's staunch five-hour hundred was his first for 27 months.

There are some niche distinctions in the game but Holland is undoubtedly the sole player in cricket history to be born in Wisconsin, raised in Australia, carry a British passport via his father and yet boast a fourth nation as his surname.

He watched as Fletcha Middleton offered a defensive bat to Dane Paterson's second ball only for it to drop and roll agonisingly on to the stumps, barely dislodging a bail.

Paterson then undid Nick Gubbins and James Vince either side of lunch before the skittish Ben Brown skipped out to drive Brett Hutton to mid-off and bring in Dawson, the lead standing at 155. Negating seam movement by advancing to attack, Dawson helped pull the game away from Nottinghamshire through 36 overs spanning tea.

With Holland bedded in but putting the bad ball away, he grew ever more aggressive, surviving a chance off Paterson when 56. Though his partner had enjoyed a 34-run start, Dawson was on the verge of catching him when finally he sliced a lavish drive to slip. After a poor start to the championship campaign, he has now made 483 runs at 60.37 in his last six matches.

Fuller arrived to take up the punishment before a shower intervened just before 18:00 BST and just after Holland's landmark from 224 balls. With four more overs lost, Nottinghamshire took the new ball on resumption but Fuller charged to his fifty from 41 balls in a withering late assault, now merrily joined by Holland, that passed 100 for the sixth wicket in only 83 balls before the surprise Stokes-like closure.

The home side's paltry performance at the start was not as unusual as may be thought: there have been six lower all-out tallies in the first division this season, five of them indeed involving one of these two sides.

Nottinghamshire were dismissed only three innings previously for 92 in Taunton and Hampshire fell for 97 at home to Warwickshire in early May. Hampshire knocked over Kent for 95 and both teams annihilated Northamptonshire, out for 72 and 56. The latter, inflicted by Hampshire, remains the division's most abject score this summer.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.

Division Two

Derbyshire (443) v Durham (364-4)

Alex Lees won the race to become the first player to score 1,000 championship runs this season as Durham hit back on the second day of the County Championship Division Two game with Derbyshire.

The England batter scored the 84 needed to reach the milestone and went on to make 171 from 210 balls and share a record-breaking stand with David Bedingham, who was out for 138.

The pair added 305 from 333 balls for the third wicket, a new Durham record, and at stumps on day two the visitors were 364-4, 79 behind Derbyshire's first-innings 443.

Derbyshire wicketkeeper Brooke Guest was last out for 197 to Scott Borthwick, who took 4-25, and although Sam Conners reduced the Division Two leaders to 8-2, the rest of the day belonged to Lees and Bedingham.

Durham had earlier been on the receiving end on a flat pitch as Guest and the tail took advantage of some poor bowling.

Derbyshire added 126 runs in 25 overs with Guest and Conners doing most of the damage by plundering 71 from 48 balls.

Guest reached his 150 by turning Ben Raine behind square for his 23rd four before the Durham seamer got one to straighten and knock out Alex Thomson's off stump.

Zak Chappell gloved a Brydon Carse lifter to short leg but Durham lost control once Guest and Conners engaged the turbo.

Conners pulled Carse for six and after Derbyshire picked up five penalty runs when the ball struck the helmet behind wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson, he drove Matthew Parkinson over the long-off boundary.

Durham were looking increasingly ragged until Conners charged Borthwick and was stumped for 33 off only 25 balls.

Guest had a double century in his sights but when he took on Borthwick, he failed to clear Raine at long on.

It had been an outstanding innings and one that looked even better when Conners struck twice in the fourth over after lunch.

Michael Jones was bowled as he shaped to play through midwicket and Borthwick was caught on the crease but Lees and Bedingham responded with a thrilling counter-attack.

Bedingham lit the fuse by pulling Chappell for six before Lees straight drove Thomson for consecutive sixes.

Lees drove Anuj Dal back over his head for another six and his only anxious moment came on 79 when he almost edged Chappell behind.

But he drove the next ball for four and then turned Chappell for a single to reach that 1,000-run milestone which was quickly followed by his fourth century in five innings when he clipped Dal to the fine-leg boundary.

Lees had faced only 127 balls but Bedingham reached his hundred off only 113 when he edged Luis Reece to third man for his 15th four.

The runs kept coming and the pair passed Durham's previous highest third-wicket stand of 243 which they had set at Leicester at the end of June.

Lees went to his 150 with successive fours off Nic Potts but the stand was finally broken when Bedingham clipped Dal to substitute fielder Mitch Wagstaff at short midwicket.

Durham sent in Migael Pretorious to take advantage of a tiring attack but Conners returned to remove Lees who was caught behind driving at a wide ball two overs before the close.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.

Leicestershire (110 & 114-7, target 238) v Worcestershire (178 & 169)

Worcestershire need three more wickets to improve their Division Two promotion chances and dent Leicestershire's after day two of their County Championship game at Oakham School proved no less eventful than the first.

It closed with Leicestershire, 88-8 in their first innings overnight, 114-7 in their second when bad light brought play to an early close, with Worcestershire bowled out for 169 in between.

After 18 wickets on day one, 19 followed on day two, among them a couple for Josh Tongue, released from England duty at Old Trafford to re-join his county team-mates.

Dillon Pennington finished with 4-36 as Leicestershire were dismissed for 110 in 39.1 overs first time around before Jake Libby defied the seam-friendly surface with 67 off 87 balls as Worcestershire posted 169 in 40.4 overs to leave Leicestershire chasing 238 to win.

Chris Wright took 4-44 in Worcestershire's first innings to raise his tally to 36 in his final season with Leicestershire. Pennington has 3-25 in Leicestershire's second innings, in which Rehan Ahmed has added another defiant 33 to go with his 44 in the first innings.

At the start, Leicestershire added 22 in the time it took Worcestershire to take their remaining first-innings wickets, although it should have been fewer. Ahmed was dropped in the slips on 27 off the second ball of the morning.

Ahmed's positivity was the model adopted by Libby, albeit with a little more refinement. There were quite a few runs off the edge raced to fifty from 51 balls but it helped that when he did take a chance he committed fully to the shot; on this pitch, playing tentatively was to invite trouble.

There were casualties at the other end, though. Gareth Roderick was caught at third slip off Chris Wright, who found that the pitch, though drier than it had been at the start of day one, still had something in it for him as he uprooted Azhar Ali's middle stump. Jack Haynes, attempting to pull, gloved a catch behind.

At 81-3 at lunch, Worcestershire had a lead of 149, which was probably where they wanted to be, but Leicestershire fought back well in the afternoon and as three wickets fell in the space of 11 balls the position was shifting.

Adam Hose, dropped on nought just before lunch, was taken with a juggle in his follow-through by Wright, who bowled Waite with another that nipped back. In between, Wiaan Mulder at last induced a fatal error from Libby, who pushed at one that left him late, giving Peter Handscomb a simple catch. Six down and 183 ahead looked less comfortable.

Leicestershire kept up the pressure in the field, substitute fielder Roman Walker running out Joe Leach with a fine throw-in from deep square leg and Rishi Patel holding an excellent diving catch as Josh Baker slashed to backward point.

A catch by Mulder at first slip off Tom Scriven saw off Brett D'Oliveira, although the South African spilled one in the same over to let Pennington off the hook. In the context of a low-scoring match, it was potentially an expensive error, with Worcestershire able to eke out another 24 runs before Scriven found the edge of Pennington's bat again to wrap up the innings.

The target for Leicestershire was 238, some 60 more runs than had been scored in any of the three previous innings. Yet the pitch, by now subjected to the heavy roller twice in the day, was easing. The key for Leicestershire looked to be having the patience to negotiate the 44 overs to the close with minimal losses.

The 12 before tea did not augur well, with two gone for 24 after Louis Kimber was caught behind off the fifth ball and Patel, one of Leicestershire's key hopes, edged to second slip in the sixth over. More setbacks followed.

Ackermann departed to a catch at third slip by Baker low to his left that left him unsure - not unreasonably - whether it had been taken cleanly. Lewis Hill, on 10, was dropped on the long leg boundary off Waite, but then Tongue struck twice in three balls to leave Leicestershire in unquestionable peril at 53-5, bringing one back to bowl Handscomb and having his fellow overseas player Mulder caught behind down the leg side.

With questionable light now making batting still more difficult, Pennington - like Tongue bound for Nottinghamshire at the end of the season - returned to take two in an over himself as Hill was given out caught down the leg side and Tom Scriven edged behind as Roderick held two more chances before the umpires called time with nine overs of the day's schedule left.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.

Yorkshire (286-4) v Sussex (216)

Adam Lyth's excellent 115 - his second County Championship century of the season - underpinned a dominant Yorkshire batting display as they seized control after two days against Sussex at Headingley.

The former England opener, 35, led the county's 286-4 response to Sussex's inadequate first-innings 216 after the visitors elected to bat on a pitch they believed would get worse but has got much better.

Lyth's 31st career first-class century included 18 fours in 175 balls and was ably supported as opening partner Fin Bean made 45, South African overseas batter Ryan Rickelton 46 and England white ball star Dawid Malan 51.

Play started with Sussex advancing their first innings from 120-6 overnight after they struggled in bowler-friendly conditions during a shortened first day.

All-rounder Fynn Hudson-Prentice and Australian overseas seamer Nathan McAndrew gave their total respectability by completing a 94-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Impressive Hudson-Prentice top-scored with 73 and McAndrew added 47.

It was a sign of things to come that they batted comfortably late on day one and early on day two in advancing from 76-6.

Matthew Fisher finished with 4-69 for Yorkshire, all four of his wickets coming on day one.

Left-arm spinner Dan Moriarty claimed two of the four morning wickets including Hudson-Prentice brilliantly caught by substitute fielder Matthew Revis running back towards the long-on fence. He was on for Lyth at the time.

Yorkshire clearly haven't had things easy in Championship cricket for the last season-and-a-half.

And while Lyth, dropped on 38 at second slip by James Coles, played the lead role, it is his 21-year-old opening partner Bean's form this season which is even more pleasing as they build for the future.

In Bean, there's a shining beacon of hope. Even though he missed out on the big eye-catching score in this innings, he still went beyond 600 Championship runs for the season - a milestone Lyth later reached as well.

Bean put his name in lights last summer with a remarkable 441 in a second-team Championship match at Nottinghamshire when not on contract at Headingley.

It earned him an almost immediate rookie deal with the county, and only last week that was turned into a maiden two-year full professional deal following three Championship centuries in 2023.

Stalwart Lyth has not had a solid opening partnership since fellow Championship-winner Alex Lees left for Durham in late 2018. Now, this Lyth and Bean alliance looks to be set in stone for a good while to come.

Lyth, as ever, drove handsomely as Yorkshire confidently made inroads into Sussex's total.

At one stage, he and Bean hit five fours in seven balls off the seam of Hudson-Prentice and Crocombe in the 15th and 16th overs, moving the score to 75 without loss. In fact, 76 out of Yorkshire's first 89 runs came in boundaries.

Lyth drove with more of a flourish and Bean was more compact and mechanical. The latter is not actually too dissimilar to the way Sir Alastair Cook bats.

Lyth reached his fifty off 77 balls shortly after Bean had departed, caught at slip trying to play forcefully off the back foot against McAndrew - 94 for one in the 22nd over.

But Lyth found another partner in Rickelton, who is playing his second of four Championship matches as a short-term replacement for captain Shan Masood. He is away on Test duty with Pakistan.

Rickelton was quick on his feet in lofting Coles' left-arm spin for six over long-off before he edged the seam of Ari Karvelas to second slip as he jammed down on a full ball - 178-2 in the 46th over.

Lyth later reached his century off 157 balls but was the first of two wickets in as many overs from off-spinner Jack Carson, who helped Sussex end the day well.

Lyth chipped to midwicket and George Hill edged to slip without scoring, leaving Yorkshire at 258-4 in the 63rd.

While Sussex limited the damage late on, Malan reached his fifty off 82 balls.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.

Gloucestershire v Glamorgan (152-2)

Glamorgan captain David Lloyd hit an attacking 81 as his side reached 152-2 on a rain-ruined first day against Gloucestershire.

Just 40 overs were bowled on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival.

Lloyd and Zain Ul Hassan (30) started with a stand of 111, Glamorgan's best start of the Championship season.

Zafar Gohar and Tom Price claimed a wicket apiece for the hosts but rain limited play to to just 20 minutes in the afternoon and evening sessions.

Lloyd made good use of winning the toss as he quickly went on the attack, while Ul Hassan weathered a tight opening spell from Price.

Lloyd survived a nasty blow on the helmet from Paul van Meekeren on 33, and should have been caught off Dominic Goodman on 44 when a diving Price could not hold onto a chance at point.

The Glamorgan skipper raced to a half-century off 57 balls and with Ul Hassan starting to open up, the pair posted Glamorgan's first hundred opening stand of the campaign on the stroke of lunch.

Ul Hassan fell just after for 30 as he tried to pull a sharply-spinning delivery from Zafar Gohar from outside off-stump and was judged lbw in a marginal call as to whether the impact was in line.

But with Glamorgan on 120-1, most of the afternoon session was wiped out by rain and Lloyd went quickly on the resumption, leg-before to Price after hitting 13 boundaries.

Gloucestershire thought they had a third wicket when Sam Northeast, on three, edged Van Meekeren to gully where Price claimed the low catch, only for the umpires to decide they could not be sure the ball carried.

South Africa batter Colin Ingram, playing only his third Championship game of the season, hit some sweet straight drives to get Glamorgan past 150 before the weather closed in again to spoil the festival occasion.

Report by BBC Sport Wales' Nick Webb.