Cobb, O'Brien steady Leicestershire

Leicestershire 221 for 4 (Cobb 49*, Boyce 49, Wagg 3-68) v Glamorgan
Scorecard

Leicestershire recovered from losing three quick wickets to Graham Wagg to finish in the ascendancy after an abbreviated first day against Glamorgan.

Wagg removed Matt Boyce and Angus Robson in successive deliveries and added the scalp of Ned Eckersley shortly afterwards. His colleagues in the attack at Grace Road were not as penetrative, though, and Josh Cobb and Niall O'Brien were able to see the home side through to an early close on 221 for 4, with no play possible after tea.

Glamorgan won the toss and chose to field, but Leicestershire openers Greg Smith and Boyce stood firm early on as 38 runs came in a wicketless first hour. With the score on 45, Boyce survived a strong caught-behind appeal off the bowling of John Glover having made 17.

The half-century partnership did not arrive, though, as Smith threw a loose drive at Jim Allenby and Wagg's diving catch in the covers made it 49 for 1, the batsman departing for 28. Boyce escaped after offering a straightforward slip chance to the usually reliable Stewart Walters and at lunch it was 82 for 1.

After the interval, and a brief rain stoppage, Boyce began playing with increasing fluency and finding the boundaries - but he was to miss out on a half-century. The left-hander pushed half-forward to a Wagg outswinger and was taken by diving wicketkeeper Mark Wallace to end a partnership of 68. His 49 came from 122 balls, with eight fours.

Wagg struck again with his next ball, bowling Robson for a golden duck, but stand-in Leicestershire captain Cobb survived the hat-trick ball and hit the last of the over for four.

Eckersley reached 42 before edging behind to give Wagg his third wicket and new man Niall O'Brien unusually got off the mark with a five, substitute fielder David Lloyd throwing at the wrong end and the ball skipping on to reach the boundary.

The fifty partnership came up in the 54th over and O'Brien took 11 runs from Dean Cosker's sixth over - the veteran spinner's previous five having yielded just two in total.

There were few alarms and both batsmen were closing on half-centuries in an unbroken stand of 84 when more rain intervened. Cobb was just one run short, with O'Brien on 46 from 56 balls, but both were left to wait overnight as the post-tea session was wiped out in its entirety.