Ingram marathon earns county record for Glamorgan
Sophia Gardens has been the home of Glamorgan since 1967
- Published
Vitality County Championship Division Two, Sophia Gardens (day two)
Leicestershire 251: Handscomb 46; Van der Gugten 4-45, Douthwaite 4-49
Glamorgan 431-7 (121 overs): Ingram 206*, Carlson 85; Holland 4-88
Glamorgan (6 pts) lead Leicestershire (3 pts) by 180 runs with three first-innings wickets standing
Colin Ingram set a new Glamorgan record as he passed 1,000 first-class runs in just 13 innings this season, the fewest ever to reach the landmark.
He overtook Majid Khan’s effort in 15 innings in 1972.
Ingram’s career-best 206 not out steered Glamorgan to 431-7, 180 ahead of Leicestershire, with Kiran Carlson hitting 85.
Ian Holland (4-88) and Rehan Ahmed (2-90) were the pick of a hard-working Foxes attack in the Cardiff sunshine.
But 39-year-old Ingram’s innings was a remarkable effort of technique and application, especially for a man who virtually gave up first-class cricket for several years, as he dragged Glamorgan into a strong position.
Leicestershire bowled more tightly from the start than the previous night, and Ingram offered a tough chance to slip off Tom Scriven on 64, but reached three figures for the fifth time this season in an outstanding run of form for the veteran South African.
England leg-spinner Ahmed bowled a lengthy and parsimonious spell to dismiss Carlson, just dragging his back foot forward for Peter Hansdcomb to effect a neat stumping, and Billy Root, lbw for six.
Chris Cooke chipped in 47 in a stand of 86 with Ingram that occupied most of the afternoon, but the persevering USA international Holland struck either side of tea as the scoring rate dropped and the contest grew ever more attritional in the baking sun on a hybrid pitch and using the Kookaburra ball.
Timm van der Gugten made 29 before Ingram embarked on his series of personal milestones- passing his previous Glamorgan best of 178, the figure of 185 which took him to the thousand, and his career-best of 190 followed by that maiden double century.
By the close he had batted for more than eight hours, facing 320 balls while hitting 24 fours and one six, and sharing a late stand of 61 with Mason Crane.
It was a spirited effort from the Leicestershire bowlers, minus five possible seam options and with spinner Liam Trevaskis missing from the field the whole day.
Glamorgan’s Colin Ingram told BBC Sport Wales:
“I thoroughly enjoyed it, this season’s seen a number of firsts for me, and I just tried to keep it really simple, push the game forward, and work in partnerships. We needed to knuckle down and I’m really proud of the efforts and the partnerships with everyone else.
“I was totally unaware of the county record, I’m not someone who pays massive attention to records, but to tick off a 200 is something I’ve always wanted to do and it’s a wave of emotions.
“With the field out and the ball getting soft, I felt I’d just take what was there and look for partnerships with Mason and Timm being really good players down the order to keep stretching the lead.
“My wife and kids came down, I’m really grateful to have them here because I think my wife sensed a little while ago that a 200 was coming, and I’m sure my parents (in South Africa) would have been watching on the stream with not much work done on the farm!”
Leicestershire’s Rehan Ahmed told BBC Radio Leicester:
“Colin batted very well and they had some great partnerships, so for us it was about setting fields and trying to bowl to them which is what we did.
“The pitch, being a hybrid, flattened out a bit with the sun on it but there’s a bit of spin and bounce if you bowl well.
“I’ve worked very hard on my bowling in the last month or so so it’s nice to get 30 overs under my belt and get some reward, and I love bowling with the Kookaburra ball which helps.”
