Duckett gatecrashes Khawaja's record day

Northamptonshire 281 and 169 for 0 (Duckett 111*, Procter 50*) lead Glamorgan 254 (Khawaja 103, Sanderson 3-30) by 196 runs
Scorecard

Usman Khawaja made history on the second day of Glamorgan's Specsavers County Championship Division Two match against Northamptonshire at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

But there was also a century for Northamptonshire's opening batsman Ben Duckett, as he guided the visitors to 169 for 0 at the close, a sizeable second innings lead of 196. They are in firm control after a lacklustre bowling and batting display by the Welsh county, with the notable exception of Khawaja.

After showing glimpses of his best form in Northants' opening win of the season, this was Duckett at his most destructive and suggests better times ahead for a player who was in England's thoughts only recently.

Khawaja's 103 made him the first player in Glamorgan's history to score a century in his first three Championship matches for the county, surpassing the two consecutive hundreds achieved by Javed Miandad (in 1980) and Shaun Marsh, earlier this season, with Khawaja adding to his centuries against Warwickshire (125) at Edgbaston and Derbyshire (126) at Swansea.

"I wasn't expecting the record at all," Khawaja said. "There were even ifs and buts whether I'd get here at all because I was still waiting for a visa in India. I got over here with not too much time to spare and to get that first hundred alone… It's nice that it's flowed on a little bit from there."

The Australian left-hander brought up his century from 138 deliveries, striking 16 fours and two sixes, before he was caught at fine leg by Richard Levi off Hutton for 103, as Glamorgan were dismissed for 254, 27 runs behind in the first innings.

Earlier in the day, Luke Procter had taken two Glamorgan wickets in the first session as the Welsh county battled to 115 for three in their first innings reply to 281. Nick Selman was first to depart, touching an outswinger to keeper Adam Rossington off Ben Sanderson for 29. Jack Murphy was then trapped lbw for 21 from Luke Procter's second delivery of the day before Owen Morgan was caught behind for 20, having struck four fours. Kiran Carlson, off the mark from the sixteenth delivery he faced, was struck in front by Sanderson, who bowled Chris Cooke two balls later before Andrew Salter was lbw to Brett Hutton, with Glamorgan in trouble on 195 for 6.

Ruaidhri Smith was dropped by Richard Levi at second slip on two, before Nathan Buck took three wickets in successive overs, getting Smith caught behind before bowling both Prem Sisodiya and Timm van der Gugten. Khawaja was eventually dismissed for 103 as Glamorgan were all out for 254, a first innings deficit of 27.

Northamptonshire's openers Luke Procter and Ben Duckett started their second innings and the final session aggressively, building a valuable partnership and making Glamorgan's bowlers suffer as they built a sizeable lead.

Duckett brought up his half century from 52 deliveries and his century from 92, as the visitors continued to dominate late into the day. Procter also posted a half-century as the visitors looked to build a comprehensive lead.

After completing his 14th first-class century for Northamptonshire, Duckett said, "Tomorrow is massive. In the past, we've been on the opposite end of days like this where sides have really hammered us. I think it's really important for us to do the same in the morning."