Captain Carlson guides Glamorgan to win over Kent
Kiran Carlson took 3-24 in Kent's second innings before shining with the bat
- Published
Rothesay County Championship Division Two, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff (day four)
Kent 155 & 360: Finch 68, Stewart 63; Carlson 3-24
Glamorgan 327 & 189-5 Carlson 89*, Root 30; Parkinson 4-82
Glamorgan (21 pts) beat Kent (3 pts) by five wickets
Glamorgan boosted their bid for promotion as they beat Kent by five wickets to climb to second place in County Championship Division Two.
With the Welsh side set 189 to win and resuming on 25-2, a tense final day was in prospect at Sophia Gardens, particularly when nightwatchman James Harris fell to Matt Parkinson.
But captain Kiran Carlson steadied Glamorgan with a fluent unbeaten 89, playing some punchy shots to lift his team's run rate and turn what could have been a tricky chase into a comfortable stroll to victory.
Carlson was well supported by Billy Root, who was stumped off Parkinson's bowling for a swift 30, while Colin Ingram chipped in with a similarly brisk 27.
Ingram was out lbw to Parkinson, who picked up four second-innings wickets to go with his four from the first, in the first ball after lunch.
Ben Kellaway then joined Carlson at the crease, and it was the Glamorgan skipper who hit the winning runs in the south Wales sunshine.
Glamorgan's fourth County Championship win of the season lifts them from third to second in the Division Two table, overtaking Derbyshire, who were outplayed at home to leaders Leicestershire.
The Welsh side have fitness concerns over wicket-keeper Chris Cooke (calf injury) and seamer Timm van der Gugten (foot) ahead of their match at Lancashire on Tuesday 29 July, but captain Sam Northeast is likely to be back after paternity leave and leg-spinner Mason Crane took 11 wickets in a second-team win over Kent.
Kent captain Daniel Bell-Drummond, who fell awkwardly in the field, will have a scan on a knee injury while Joe Denly faces a lay-off with a calf problem suffered while batting in the first innings.
Kent host leaders Leicestershire in their next four-day match, but are focussing on white-ball prospects including a T20 Blast quarter-final at Lancashire on 6 September.
Glamorgan coach Richard Dawson told BBC Sport Wales:
"The way Kiran and James batted the first half-hour took the sting out of the game, then Bill and Kiran's partnership had the simplicity of knowing how they were going to score. Kiran's innings in general was outstanding, looking at how to play with intent, and we did that really well.
"It was a good game and Kent played well but that middle session on day one where we got seven wickets was a big part in getting ahead in the game, then Colin and Ben's partnership (was key), although we could have got a bigger lead.
"Ben's contributing with bat and ball, he preps well, and he's had a few roles to fill with his bowling, he did a really good job holding one end yesterday.
"We're playing good cricket, we wanted to be in contention at this point but we've got four hard games left and we've got to be consistent, we're not talking about promotion yet."
Kent coach Adam Hollioake told BBC Kent Sport:
"Probably where we lost it was our middle-order in the first innings (losing six wickets for seven), that was pivotal and even yesterday we had some good partnerships but no-one went on and got three figures, so that's the area that cost us.
"I'm pretty happy with the ball, the boys toiled well and they're showing good spirit given all the injuries we've had, things are bad when I've got the whites on (as a reserve sub fielder).
"There's no-one in this competition we're intimidated by, our biggest opponent is ourself and we're still trying to work out our template for success."