Morning Report

Despite wet weather predictions for the weekend, Friday morning was bright and sunny in the Welsh capital, as Day 1 of an enthralling contest between Glamorgan and Middlesex took off at Sophia Gardens. Matt Kuhnemann was presented with his debut cap for Glamorgan by his Queensland teammate Marnus Labuschagne, as the Australian left-arm spinner replaced Ben Kellaway, who had exam commitments at university. Caridff-born batter Tom Bevan too found his name in the Playing XI, replacing Asitha Fernando who sat out for this game due to heavy recent workload.

Middlesex won the toss and put the Welsh county in to bat first, and Toby Roland-Jones and Dane Patterson took the new ball. The fast-bowling duo creating sorts of problems for the Glamorgan batters at Lord's in the reverse fixture in April, and continued to do so at Sophia Gardens in this innings. Middlesex skipper Roland-Jones dismissed the Glamorgan openers in quick succession, as both Zain ul Hassan and Asa Tribe was caught behind by the wicketkeeper and second slip, respectively. 

Marnus Labuschagne and Sam Northeast were starting to build a partnership together for the 3rd wicket, but just as the Australian Test star was looking to be in for the long haul, Ryan Higgins produced a perfect out-swinger, caught at second slip by Leus du Plooy off a thick outside edge. Kiran Carlson saw Glamorgan through for the morning session along with the skipper Sam Northeast, as the Welsh county ended on 70-3 on lunch, Day 1. 

Teatime Report

The fans in Sophia Gardens saw a masterclass in batting in the afternoon session, as Sam Northeast and Kiran Carlson's 150-run partnership for the 4th wicket saw Glamorgan getting past 200 runs. In a wicketless session for Middlesex bowlers, the two senior Glamorgan batters played some exquisite shots to get the scoring rate up to over 3.5 runs an over after a disciplined morning session. Toby Roland-Jones shuffled his pack, leading by by example himself, but failed to get that crucial breakthrough, as the two right-handed vatters kept accumulating runs. 

Dane Paterson and Ryan Higgins threatened the most, but the Welsh county ended the afternoon session without the loss of any wickets. Sam Northeast got past the milestone of 14,000 first-class runs in his career, and Kiran Carlson who recently got past 5,000 first-class career runs himself, found a boundary almost every over near to tea, as runs started flowing off the bats of the two experienced campaigners. At tea on Day 2, Glamorgan 215-3 with Sam Northeast and Kiran Carlson on 83 and 72 respectively.

Stumps Report

The 218-run partnership between Sam Northeast and Kiran Carlson was the highlight of Day 1, as both batters got to the three-figure milestone. Shortly after the tea break, Sam Northeast took the aggressive route to left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar and got his maiden first-class century of the 2025 season. Kiran Carlson followed shortly after, with his second century of the season in the County Championship. They also recorded the highest partnership for any wicket in the Rothesay County Championship for Glamorgan in 2025. 

However, Middlesex pulled things back after the pair celebrated their centuries. Toby Roland-Jones took the new ball from the River End, and took the wicket of Kiran Carlson as the umpire raised the finger to a caught-behind shout, much to the Cardiff-born batter's disappointment. Tom Bevan, who was playing his first game of the season in the competition, followed suit as he was LBW bowled by the Middlesex captain. Sam Northeast and Chris Cooke were starting to build a nice little partnership for the 6th wicket, when Ryan Higgins bowled a magnificent delivery to clip Sam Northeast's bail, as the Glamorgan skipper departed for 122 to applauds from the Sophia Gardens crowd. Shortly before stumps, Ryan Higgins took his third wicket of the innings, taking the wicket of Timm van der Gugten thanks to a sharp catch at gully by Ben Geddes. 

At the end of day's play on the fist day, Glamorgan are 334-7 with Chris Cooke and Andy Gorvin in the middle.

Morning Report

It was a wet and overcast morning at Sophia Gardens ahead of Day 2, probably for the first time in the 2025 County Championship in Cardiff. The umpires assessed the visibility ahead of play and agreed on a timely start at 11AM, as Chris Cooke and Andy Gorvin walked out to bat for the Welsh County. Ryan Higgins began the morning session from where he left off on Day 1, disturbing the timber behind Andy Gorvin. Dane Paterson finally picked up his first wicket of the match, trapping Chris Cooke LBW for 47, three runs short of a well-deserved half-century. After a dropped catch at slip, Middlesex finally claimed the final Glamorgan wicket, as Ryan Higgins picked up his 5-wicket haul after trapping James Harris leg before wicket. 

Glamorgan came out to bowl with 20 minutes to lunch, and Timm van der Gugten and James Harris made the new ball move. van der Gugten picked up the wicket of Sam Robson with 5 minutes to go for lunch, as the right-handed batter edged the ball to second slip, safely taken by Sam Northeast. Middlesex 20-1 at lunch, trailing by 363 runs.

Teatime Report

Just as the lunch break was coming to an end, and the players were starting to head out for the afternoon session, the rain picked up and forced the ground staff to put the covers out. It was only light drizzles in the air at first, but soon came a passing shower. After over an hour lost due to the weather, the umpires and players finally came out at 3:10PM, to commence a shortened afternoon session. 

Middlesex got off to a good start, with Max Holden and Luke Hollman scoring runs off James Harris in particular, who was guilty of pitching it up every now and then. However, the Welshman had the last laugh, coming 'round the wicket and swinging it in to the left-handed Hollman, who could not put his bat down in time and lost his wicket. Andy Gorvin replaced Timm van der Gugten at the River End, and continued his excellent form with the ball. Gorvin picked up two wickets in successive deliveries as Glamorgan fully asserted their dominance in the afternoon session. Max Holden was the first to go, edging the ball straight into the hands of Kiran Carlson at second slip, while Ryan Higgins was caught LBW off his first ball, giving Gorvin two wickets in the session. 

Leus du Plooy abnd Ben Geddes played out the remaining few overs before tea, as Glamorgan picked up three wickets in the shortened afternoon session, with Middlesex's score on 79-4 trailing by 304 runs.

Stumps Report

The home side asserted their complete dominance by the end of day's play, picking up 6 wickets in the evening session. James Harris started it all, creating some late swing movements and troubling the batters, before eventually forcing Ben Geddes to poke one outside off-stump, with Kiran Carlson accepting yet another catch at second slip. Matt Kuhnemann picked up his first wicket for Glamorgan, when Leus du Plooy decided to take the aerial route, only managing the top-edge the ball. Tom Bevan picked the catch running back from cover, but that wasn't the only impressive catch the Cardiff-born all-rounder took in the day. 

Fielding at mid-wicket, Bevan flew to his left to take a one-handed stunner to dismiss Jack Davies, who pulled a short ball off Zain ul Hassan towards mid-wicket. Andy Gorvin and Zain ul Hassan's spell in the later half of the session completed Glamorgan's stunning session in the field. Andy Gorvin ended up with 4 wickets to his name, and Sam Northeast enforced the follow-on with Middlesex potentially coming out to bat again, however bad light delayed the start of the visitor's 2nd innings to Day 3.