Northants squander solid start as 13 wickets fall in Cardiff

Bowlers dominated the opening proceedings between Glamorgan and Northamptonshire as 13 wickets fell in a slow-scoring day one at Sophia Gardens.

Northants fell from 99 for 1 at lunch to 185 all out including a period of 35 runs for six wickets being shared around by the Glamorgan seamers, Luke Procter was the only batter flying the flag for the visitors, as has been the story all season with 61.

Overseas impact Asitha Fernando continued his form as did Andy Gorvin taking three wickets apiece. In reply, a similar story: a steady, watchful start ending with 82 for 3.

Marnus Labuschagne made a disappointing return to his two-match stay at the Welsh County in preparation for the World Test Championship final. The Australian fell for a duck from his fellow countryman Harry Conway while Glamorgan's top run scorer for 2025 - Colin Ingram - is rested.

Both sides recorded their first win in the last round of fixtures to make for a tighter Division Two table after five matches than the initial anticipations from April. Glamorgan moved off bottom spot with a win inside two-and-a-half days while Northants, on the high of their bat-first win against Lancashire, decided to insert themselves after winning the toss on a dry, sun-hit pitch in Cardiff.

The first session proved Procter's decision at the toss to be the correct one as the new ball provided little for the Glamorgan all-seam frontline attack. It was a loose start demonstrated by 16 of the first 39 runs coming via four sets of leg-bye boundaries from the Glamorgan openers.

Reliable medium-pacer Gorvin provided the only reason to celebrate, sending back Ricardo Vasconcelos after he had passed a personal milestone of 5,000 first-class runs in his short stay. Despite the positives it wasn't all celebratory for the Northants captain; he was struck in a sensitive area on two occasions, while number three Goerge Bartlett looked unconvincing despite getting through to lunch unscathed.

The form wasn't long-lasting for the visitors as their top-five woes continued shortly after Procter passed 50. Timm van der Gugten led the way with a ball-on-a-string spell, taking his 300th first-class wicket in the process before the rest of the five-strong seam-attack all contributed for themselves with some smart catching in the slip cordon worth an honourable mention.

Justin Broad and Calvin Harrison did resist for Northants as Glamorgan shuffled their bowlers but a loose shot on the brink of tea sent Harrison packing and 185 for 8 at tea wasn't added to in the final session.

Zain Ul Hassan backed up his wicket by coming out in stroke-making fashion, taking five boundaries in his stay for 25 before chopping on in a disappointing dismissal. Asa Tribe however went about his work in a much quieter fashion in the opening 46-run partnership. The Jerseyman was bogged down until his eventual dismissal after the tight spells from Ben Sanderson and Procter, who both found lateral movement with the ball.

Captain Sam Northeast together with Kiran Carlson, on his birthday, remained not out at the end of play, surviving the final eight overs after a loss of three wickets for two runs, including Labuschagne who fenced low to Justin Broad at third slip for a seven-ball duck.