Selman carries bat but Northants dominate

Northamptonshire 321 (Kleinveldt 91, Evans 74, Zaib 65) and 230 for 7 (Evans 73, Carey 4-77) lead Glamorgan 236 (Selman 122*) by 315 runs
Scorecard

Nick Selman, the Glamorgan opener, carried his bat for a maiden Championship century, as Glamorgan battled to stay in contention against Northamptonshire at Swansea. However, by the close, the visitors were strongly placed to push for their first Championship win of the season, as they closed with a lead of 315 with three wickets still in hand.

Selman's battling effort, which lasted 302 minutes and included 15 fours from 208 balls, meant he became the first Glamorgan batsman to carry his bat since the Australian Matthew Elliott achieved the feat against Hampshire in Cardiff in 2004.

Although he received some support from the lower order, with Andrew Salter, Ruaidhri Smith and Owen Morgan all falling in the twenties, six of Glamorgan's batsmen were dismissed in single figures as Northants' seam attack, led by Mohammad Azharullah and Ben Sanderson, thrived in the conditions.

Azharullah was their most impressive bowler with 3 for 58, as Northants' seamers observed the virtue of bowling a full length on a pitch that does give them some assistance. However, had Selman not been dropped by Rory Kleinveldt from an easy caught and bowled chance from the first ball of the day, the damage would have been even greater.

As it was, Northants secured a first-innings lead of 85, and were once again rattled by the teenaged debutant, Lukas Carey, who dismissed both openers early in the innings. Ben Duckett failed for the second time in the game when he drove loosely outside the off stump, and he was quickly followed by Rob Newton who edged to second slip. Laurie Evans remained steadfast however, and passed fifty for the second time in the game in adding 75 with David Murphy, who was eventually lbw to Carey. The 19-year-old then claimed his fourth wicket when Saif Zaib edged to the wicketkeeper, before Northants lost two wickets in successive balls to Tim van der Gugten.

After striking 32 from 17 balls, Kleinveldt holed out on the extra cover boundary then Evans, who scored 73 with eight fours, was visibly annoyed with himsef when he pulled a short ball to the fielder on the square leg boundary. Graeme White and Sean Terry added some useful runs towards the end of the day as Northants closed on 230 for 7.