Marnus Labuschagne sees Glamorgan home with unbeaten fifty

Lancashire suffered their first defeat of the 2021 LV=Insurance County Championship season as Glamorgan wrapped up a six-wicket victory on the third morning in Cardiff.

While wickets had tumbled on the first two days of this match just one fell on the third as an undefeated fifty from Marnus Labuschagne guided Glamorgan to what ended up being a straightforward win.

Despite this loss, Lancashire remain top of Group 3 but Yorkshire have the chance to close that gap in their ongoing game against Sussex. Meanwhile, the win takes Glamorgan to 99 points to move above Northamptonshire into third place, albeit temporarily.

Kiran Carlson was the only wicket to fall when he attempted a pull shot off Luke Wood that he top edged high in the air. Any number of fielders could have claimed the catch but it was Dane Vilas who took the chance.

Having struggled in his first four matches of this season, Labuschagne finished on 63 not out. Having made 44 in the first innings he was the highest-scoring batsman in the match and Glamorgan will be pleased to see their high-profile overseas player finding form.

At the close on the second day, Alex Davies, the Lancashire opener, had branded the pitch as "substandard" after 15 wickets fell for the day and 19 on the first.

It wasn't easy going for Glamorgan in the opening overs of the third day. The Lancashire bowlers regularly found the edge of the bat but with such a small total to defend there was rarely a catching fielder to take advantage and when there was the ball didn't carry.

Lancashire continued to search for wickets, even trying Tom Bailey's off-spin in the hope finding a breakthrough which would not come. Labuschagne hit the winning runs as Glamorgan needed just 68 minutes to knock off the required target on the third day.

"This morning it was key for us not to lose back-to-back wickets," Labuschagne said. "Losing one was alright, but we needed to make sure that we consolidated and built a partnership. We were only two 20-to-30-run partnerships away from winning.

"We felt like we probably underperformed in that first innings, we had a few soft dismissals and I think on the back of that they just got back-to-back wickets and I felt like we probably should have got around 200.

"But to do it the fourth innings when the ball has gone reverse, which is exciting to play against because it is something we don't get much of in Australia in domestic cricket, to get through that period and to build a partnership [worth 42] with Chris Cooke to get to the end was very satisfying."

Glen Chapple, Lancashire head coach, described the game as "difficult".

"We lost the toss which meant for a difficult first session, I think that had a bearing on the game, it was a tough toss to lose," Chapple said. "The pitch was difficult to play on. It was difficult for the batsman to get in on and ultimately we have come up short.

"From our perspective we move on now. We've had a really good start to the year. Glamorgan are a good side, they have made two fantastic overseas signings which has really strengthened them and they are difficult side to play against. So they take the credit for this and they take the win.

"We know we could do things differently but that's experience. We don't often play on difficult pitches like this at Old Trafford so it is one of those challenges."