Glamorgan completed a ten-wicket victory over Kent this afternoon at Sophia Gardens after dismissing Kent for a paltry 74 in their second innings (writes Andrew Hignell)
This was only the second time which Glamorgan had beaten Kent by ten wickets in the County Championship with the previous occasion being in 1949 at Swansea when the English side were bowled out for 49.
This was Kent’s third lowest total against Glamorgan in first-class cricket, surpassed by their efforts at Swansea in 1949 as well as their total of 66 at Sophia Gardens in 1967. However, in terms of overs faced it was Kent’s shortest-ever innings against Glamorgan in Championship cricket with their innings today lasting only 26.5 overs and therefore beating the 32.5 overs in the match at the Cardiff ground in 1967, as well as the 33.3 overs when they were dismissed by the Welsh county for 93 at Gillingham, also in 1967.
It was not however the shortest-ever innings by any county against Glamorgan, as the record still stands at 14 overs – achieved at Liverpool in the Club’s Championship-winning season of 1997 when they humbled Lancashire for 51. The following year Glamorgan also dismissed the Sri Lankans at Sophia Gardens for 54 with the tourists innings only spanning 21.5 overs.
At 136.3 overs, the match against Kent was the shortest-ever four day Championship game involving the Welsh county, beating the 154.3 overs in the contest against Durham at Chester-le-Street in 2002 and just one ball longer than the shortest-ever three-day Championship game which spanned 136.2 overs against Somerset at Cardiff Arms Park in 1926. The match against Durham in 2002 was also the last time that Glamorgan had won by ten wickets in a Championship encounter which was completed inside two days. As the list below shows, on all of the other nine occasions when a four-day match has ended inside two days, Glamorgan were beaten:
1995 v Warwickshire at Sophia Gardens: Lost by 9 wickets
1999 v Surrey at The Oval: Lost by an innings and 124 runs
2002 v Derbyshire at Derby: Lost by 9 wickets
2002 v Durham at Chester-le-Street: Won by 10 wickets
2005 v Sussex at Hove: Lost by 9 wickets
2006 v Somerset at Swansea: Lost by 6 wickets
2007 v Middlesex at Swansea: Lost by an innings and 3 runs
2017 v Northamptonshire at Northampton: Lost by an innings and 22 runs
2017 v Gloucestershire at Cheltenham College: Lost by 10 wickets
2018 v Sussex at Hove: Lost by an innings and 154 runs