Andrew Salter enjoyed a good day with bat and ball, making an unbeaten 72 and taking two of the three wickets to fall as Derbyshire ended the second day of their Specsavers County Championship match against Glamorgan at Swansea on 207/3, after the home side were dismissed for 283.
Evening update
With Derbyshire on 104/2 at tea, Lukas Carey returned to the attack at the Pavilion when play resumed, with Andrew Salter at the Mumbles Road End. Alex Hughes struck both bowlers for legside fours in their opening over, flicking Carey to fine-leg and pulling Salter to square-leg. Hughes also swept Salter for four before Madsen pulled a long-hop from Carey to the ropes at mid-wicket. He then deposited Salter into the Mumbles Road for six before sweeping him for four.
Madsen then greeted the return of Hogan into the attack by cover-driving him for four before Murphy had another short and economical spell at the Pavilion End during which he ended the stand as Madsen swatted a ball straight to Carlson at mid-wicket to give the left-arm bowler his maiden Championship wicket and Glamorgan their first bowling point.
175/3 saw Billy Godleman join Hughes who duly struck a brace of fours against Murphy to complete a 94-ball half-century. The visiting captain then square-cut Salter for four before Sisdiya had another frugal spell at the Mumbles Road End as the Derbyshire batsmen defended stoutly before securing their first batting point shortly before the close.
Teatime update
Derbyshire began the afternoon session on 28/0 with Harvey Hosein and Ben Slater looking to further chisel away at the deficit. Lukas Carey and Michael Hogan resumed the bowling duties with the latter repeatedly beating the outside edge of Hossein’s bat during a probing spell at the Mumbles Road End. Slater ended a spell of dot balls by on-driving Hogan for four before clipping Carey for six over mid-wicket.
After enduring a torrid time against Hogan, Hosein steered David Lloyd through extra-cover to bring up the 50 before Prem Sisodiya entered the attack at the Pavilion End. But Glamorgan’s cause was not helped as Lloyd limped off with a leg injury mid-way through his fourth over, with Jack Murphy taking over the bowling duties at the Mumbles Road End. Slater responded by twice on-driving the tall left-armer, before it briefly became an all-spin attack as Andrew Salter entered the fray.
After a series of dot balls and singles, Sisodiya was swept for four by Hosein, but his aggression prompted the return of Hogan. However, it was Salter’s subtle spin which accounted for both openers as firstly Hosein was bowled by the twirler as the ball span back onto his stumps as he played forward defensively to the bowler. 90/1 then became 91/2 as Slater slapped a ball straight into the hands of Sisodiya at backward point.
Lunchtime report
The St. Helens ground is rightly famed for its majestic coastal panorama as well as it’s unique microclimate, with the maritime conditions occasionally assisting the seam and swing bowlers. An example occurred during a dramatic hours play in mid-afternoon, ironically after Derbyshire had eschewed their right to bowl first on a wicket expected to favour the spinners later in the game. As cloud cover swiftly built up over the Mumbles and the tide turned out in Swansea Bay, Tony Palladino extracted lavish swing as Glamorgan stuttered from 27/0 to 53/5 with the Peakite taking 3/6 in the space of 25 balls.
Conditions then eased as the sun came out and, with less assistance for the bowlers, Chris Cooke led a counter attack to stymie Derbyshire’s thoughts of running through the rest of the batting as Glamorgan ended the day on 175/7 with Andrew Salter and debutant Prem Sisodiya ready to continue the rally this morning.
Palladino and Duann Olivier resumed the bowling with both batsmen unfurling some classy cover drives with Sisodiya also under-edging Olivier for four to fine-leg before pulling him through the hands of Ravi Rampaul for three to mid-wicket. On 24 he also had a life as Alex Hughes at short-leg spilled a top edge from the youngster as Olivier went around the wicket in an attempt to end the jaunty resistance.
An outside edge for four by Salter against Palladino plus a rasping pull by the debutant against Olivier saw Glamorgan reach the 200-mark in the 54th over, with Sisodiya repeating the stroke a couple of balls later, followed by a straight drive to the boards in front of the sightscreens, to the delight of the decent-sized crowd. Salter brought up the fifty-stand by flicking Palladino to fine-leg for another boundary.
With the total om 218, Palladino claimed his fifth wicket as he bowled Sisodiya for 38 with Lukas Carey joining Salter and twice lofting Matt Critchley over long-on for six. Carey also squirted a ball from Hamidullah Qadri to third man for four before Salter deposited Critchley over long-on for six to complete his fifty from 85 balls. Carey then pulled the leg-spinner for four to bring up the 250 and another batting point before cutting Qadri for another four. But with the total on 260 Carey drilled Qadri to Godleman at mid-off.
Salter responded by ramping Critchley for four before flaying successive balls from Rampaul to mid-wicket but a mix-up in calling saw Hogan run out as Glamorgan ended on 283 with Salter unbeaten on 72. Derbyshire had half an hours batting before lunch with Ben Slater and Harvey Hosein opening the batting against Hogan and Carey. Hosein drilled Hogan through the covers for four, before Slater nurdled him to the ropes at third man followed by an off-driven four..