Glamorgan welcome Leicestershire to Sophia Gardens for the Welsh county’s next home game in the LV=Insurance County Championship, with the four-day contest at Cardiff scheduled to get underway at 11.00am on Thursday, May 5th. (writes Andrew Hignell)
Glamorgan return home from the draw at Derby, and a spirited attempt to chase 330 from 55 overs on the final afternoon, still in fourth place in the Division Two table. In contrast, Leicestershire languish at the bottom of the table, with the East Midlands side still seeking their first victory of the campaign having been comprehensively beaten by Derbyshire and Middlesex in their last two matches.
Sophia Gardens has not been a happy hunting ground in recent times for Leicestershire with Glamorgan recording emphatic victories in their last two visits to the Welsh capital in September 2018 and again in September 2019. In the latter, a century by West Indian opening batter Kraigg Brathwaite allowed Glamorgan to set Leicestershire a target of 424 to win. They only made 132 as the Welsh county rounded off their home campaign with a rousing 291-run victory.
The game in 2018 saw Glamorgan win by 132 runs, thanks to 83 from Kiran Carlson plus feisty half-centuries from Craig Meschede and Timm van der Gugten. Michael Hogan also took 4-30 but the scenario nearly changed as Dieter Klein smashed 94 in a stubborn last wicket stand before van der Gugten ended the game and the 2018 season by trapping the South African l.b.w.
Leicestershire’s most recent victory on Welsh soil came at Sophia Gardens in April 2016 with their ten-wicket victory – their first since 2001 at the Cardiff ground – being set up by a first innings haul of 6-73 by Clint McKay. The Australian then used the long handle to post a defiant half-century with Irishman Niall O’Brien also top-scoring with 93 before Ben Raine made inroads into Glamorgan’s second innings with the all-rounder claiming four wickets.
In all, the two teams have met 22 times since 1967 at the Sophia Gardens ground, with Glamorgan winning on six occasions and Leicestershire being victorious on nine occasions. You can view a more detailed listing of the records and achievements when the two counties have met by clicking here.