Tribe ton boosts Glamorgan at Leicestershire

Asa Tribe, 21, is playing only his ninth Championship match

Rothesay County Championship Division Two, Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester (day one)

Glamorgan 305-5 (96 overs): Tribe 107, Ingram 56*; Van Beek 2-66

Leicestershire: Yet to bat

Leicestershire 1 pt, Glamorgan 2 pts

Match scorecard

Asa Tribe hit a maiden first-class century for Glamorgan as they reached a solid 305-5 on a mostly slow-scoring day against Leicestershire.

The 21-year-old Jersey batter hit 14 fours and a six in his 107 as he led Glamorgan's efforts in the first two sessions, before returning to the team hotel with flu-type symptoms.

Leicestershire's seamers put the brakes on in the second half of the day as the Kookaburra ball, being used for the first time in this county season, proved tough to get away.

All the Glamorgan top order got starts, but Colin Ingram was the only other batter to pass 50.

Logan van Beek, with two for 66, was the most successful Foxes bowler.

The two in-form opponents made changes from their pre-T20 Blast Championship outings with Liam Trevaskis, Chris Wright and Sam Wood coming in for the Foxes while Glamorgan recalled Ingram, Ben Kellaway, Ned Leonard and Mason Crane -the leg spinner having his first red-ball outing of the season.

Tribe started brightly with a string of boundaries while Zain Ul Hassan began cautiously before upping his own scoring rate.

The pair added 98 before veteran Wright, in his second spell, had Ul Hassan caught behind down leg-side for 36, skipper Peter Handscomb wearing the gloves after leaving out specialist keeper Ben Cox.

But the afternoon session had a very different feel as division two leaders Leicestershire tightened their lines with the older Kookaburra ball to see scoring rates drop.

Sam Northeast started carefully and reached 21 before being given out caught behind hooking at Wood, though the ball appeared to have come off his helmet.

Tribe was dropped behind off Ben Green on 76 before working his way responsibly towards three figures off 158 balls, reaching the landmark when he turned Liam Trevaskis to square leg for a couple.

But Logan van Beek found the edge of his bat soon afterwards and Hansdcomb took a third catch.

Tribe's dismissal saw the game drop into a lower gear as the normally attacking pair of Kiran Carlson and Ingram added 60 at just over three an over before Carlson was yorked by left-arm spinner Liam Trevaskis for 43.

The Foxes strangely opted to use occasional spinner Rishi Patel to bowl for the first time in the Championship as they delayed taking the new ball for four overs.

Van Beek got a reward from the new cherry as Ben Kellaway was trapped lbw for 25 to keep the Foxes in the hunt, before Ingram reached a half-century with few flashes of his trademark aggression to keep Glamorgan slightly on top.

Glamorgan's Colin Ingram told BBC Sport Wales:

"Asa has been playing really well over the last couple of months so it's a special moment to see him get his first one (100) and he played particularly well, he struck the ball cleanly on a slow surface.

"He's got a few flu-ey symptoms so hopefully he recovers quickly, it was a heck of an effort in those circumstances.

"The ball got quite soft in the middle and every time we scraped a partnership together we lost a wicket, so it kept me in my box and there aren't a heap of options to accelerate once the ball gets soft.

"The new ball still goes around, grips a bit, seams a bit, but the difference is how soft it gets in the middle overs and that's a challenge we need to embrace. You've got to look after the ball and get the spinners involved more."

Leicestershire's Logan van Beek told BBC Radio Leicester:

"In Australia and New Zealand the Kookaburra ball is a good ball, but here it feels very different, because the wickets are a touch slower and it just seems to get soft more quickly.

"That makes it hard from both a bowling and batting point of view. But it does bring the spinners more into the game, which I think is the goal.

"After 10 overs we clipped back into what we've been doing well, bowling tight lines and lengths, and it was an OK day in the end.

"We're still playing to win, that's how we've got into the position we're in, but the Kookaburra makes things a little more placid and you have to find different ways."