Andrew Hignell reports on day 1 of the Specsavers County Championship clash at Grace Road.
Day One
Close of Play Report
Leicestershire resumed after tea on 177/4 with Cameron Delport striking the first boundary of the session as he leg-glanced Lukas Carey to the ropes in front of the Pavilion before drilling Michael Hogan through mid-off for four. Delport then laconically flicked Cary to mid-wicket for four before lofting Carey for six over long-on.
However, he had a life as Carey dropped a chance at long-on when Andrew Salter returned at the Bennett End, but it did not prove to be expensive as three balls later the off-spinner bowled the South African. 202/5 saw Lewis Hill join Pettini and after a series of singles against Salter and de Lange, Glamorgan took the new ball as Carey returned to the fray in tandem with the latter
Pettini continued to accumulate quietly en route to a 115-ball fifty whilst Hill on-drove and square-cut Carey for fours. Pettini greeted the return of Hogan by cutting him for four but shortly afterwards the light deteriorated and despite the galre of the floodlights, the players left the field.
Teatime Report
With Leicestershire on 81/0 at the start of the afternoon, Lukas Carey resumed the bowling at the Bennett End and with his fifth delivery of the session clean bowled Paul Horton before next delivery having Neil Dexter caught behind by a sprawling Chris Cooke. 85/2 then became 86/3 as Ned Eckersley was bowled by Michael Hogan with Glamorgan picking up their first bowling point.
Shortly after Mark Pettini had brought up the 100, Dearden survived another mix-up in calling and was almost run out for the second time. Carey then switched to the Pavilion End and was pulled for four by Dearden, before the opener fortuitously top-edged a ball over the slip cordon for another boundary. He then steered Marchant de Lange to third man to reach his maiden Championship fifty after three hours at the crease before cover-driving David Lloyd.
With the light becoming gloomy, the floodlights came on before Pettini clipped Hogan to square-leg, before repeating the stroke against David Lloyd. Pettini brought up the 150 by cutting Lloyd before Dearden unfurled a cover drive for four against the same bowler. But after clippig Andrew Salter for four, he was bowled by the off-spinner for 87 in the penultimate over before tea.
Lunchtime Update
The Welsh county made one change to their line-up from the team that lost by eight wickets on Sunday against Worcestershire at The SSE SWALEC, with Andrew Salter replacing Harry Podmore. With heavy cloud cover, Glamorgan opted to bowl first with Michael Hogan and Lukas Carey sharing the new ball, with Paul Horton edging Hogan just wide of third slip in the opening over. Carey also beat the outside edge in a probing spell at the Pavilion End besides seeing Harry Dearden survive a sharp chance at short mid-wicket as he miscued a drive.
Dearden celebrated his good fortune by twice cover-driving Hogan before off-driving Carey for four. The youngster switched ends as Marchant de Lange entered the attack at the Pavilion End, before a mix-up in calling nearly saw Dearden run out by Salter. He again made the most of his good luck by straight-driving de Lange before Hogan returned at the Pavilion End and was cover-driven by Horton. The opener was then struck on the glove by a lifting delivery but continued after treatment on his damaged digit and brought up the fifty by off-driving de Lange for four.
David Lloyd and Salter then had a spell in tandem before the interval