Glamorgan romp to one-sided win over Kent

Timm van der Gugten signed a new three-year contract extension with Glamorgan in September 2024

Rothesay County Championship Division Two, The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury (day three)

Glamorgan 549-9 dec: Kellaway 181*, Tribe 94, Ingram 70; Kashif Ali 4-92, Parkinson 3-149

Kent 212: Benjamin 94*; Van der Gugten 3-23, Harris 3-59

& 176: Muyeye 41; Fernando 3-18, van der Gugten 3-33

Glamorgan (23 pts) beat Kent (2 pts) by an innings and 161 runs

Match scorecard

Glamorgan raced to a three-day victory by the massive margin of an innings and 161 runs as Asitha Fernando (3-18) and Timm van der Gugten (3-33) tore through Kent's second effort.

They were bowled out for 176 after following on 337 runs behind, Tawanda Muyeye's 41 the top score.

Glamorgan claimed all 10 wickets in a lengthy afternoon session for their first triumph of 2025 and one of their biggest ever championship wins.

Injury-hit Kent were bowled out for 212 first time round despite Chris Benjamin's unbeaten 94 leading some late resistance.

It was their second defeat after winning two of their first three matches, while Glamorgan moved two places off the bottom of Division Two.

The home side resumed with a mountain to climb at 156-8 in their first innings, and although George Garrett edged Fernando over the slips, the tail-ender dominated the early scoring in a stand of 54.

They lasted 52 minutes before Garrett, on 35, edged Zain Ul Hassan behind, and the seamer then bowled Kashif Ali for three leaving former Warwickshire wicketkeeper Benjamin frustratingly stranded six short of a first ton for his new county.

Harry Finch and Ben Compton defended quietly until lunch but after the break Finch hit the first three balls from Ul Hassan for four, only to lose partner Compton lbw to Fernando for 17.

Kent's top order fell apart for the second time in the game as Daniel Bell-Drummond edged Andy Gorvin to a diving Kiran Carlson at slip and Finch (28) edged Fernando through to Chris Cooke.

A bizarre interruption saw most of the players and umpires hit the deck briefly as a bee swarm was sighted, not helping Jack Leaning's concentration as he was caught behind off Fernando next ball.

Ekansh Singh, 18, was on a pair but squirted one past short-leg to get off the mark to knowledgeable applause from the Kent faithful, managing one boundary before providing Cooke with another catch off van der Gugten.

The Netherlands international then disposed of Benjamin and Grant Stewart before top scorer Muyeye was trapped lbw by James Harris and Matt Parkinson hammered a return catch to batting hero Ben Kellaway.

As the afternoon session was extended, a slightly farcical end saw the visitors turn to double spin to improve their over-rate and last man Kashif slammed Kiran Carlson for three sixes.

He holed out to Gorvin on the mid-wicket boundary off Kellaway for 32 and that was that with four sessions to spare.

Kent travel to Gloucestershire on Friday 16 May with only Nathan Gilchrist of their lengthy injury list, likely to return from concussion.

Meanwhile Glamorgan host Northants, with Australian star Marnus Labuschagne replacing Colin Ingram for two weeks.

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

"We probably didn't think it was going to happen that quickly, but very happy that it did, and it was a pretty complete performance.

"It's probably the biggest win I've had anywhere in my career, set up by the batters, then as a collective I thought we bowled really well, kept it simple, kept the stumps in play, stifled their runs and took the wickets where we could.

Coach Richard Dawson added:

"A very good effort by the lads, last week we played some good cricket against Derbyshire but didn't get over the line so to back it up and play the way we did was really pleasing.

"Over the last few weeks we've talked about playing on the front foot in the first innings.

"Ben got the big score, Asa (Tribe) played really well again. They've got talent, they work hard, they're keen, and they're eager for runs and they've got ability so it's been good to see them put together performances, under pressure after being put in."

Kent coach Adam Hollioake told BBC Radio Kent:

"We're disappointed more than anybody because we're responsible for it, the performance wasn't good enough, the result looks bad and we have to do better.

"A few home truths were spoken about in the debrief. We set out at the start of the year, whatever we did we were going to try to put up some fight and we didn't do that very well in this game.

"We didn't bowl well on the first day and that set the tone. But we're not going to start sulking and feeling sorry for ourselves, we'll keep working hard and get back on it.

"We played terribly, but we'll hope that's a one-off. We don't drop people after one bad performance. (Injuries) are hard, Jas Singh is out for the summer, Keith Dudgeon's gone. But we're professional athletes and I've got a find a way to win games because there's no point in crying into your cornflakes, you've got to find ways around it."