Lancashire took firm control over Glamorgan on day one of the final Rothesay County Championship match, reducing the visitors to 265 while finishing 55 for 0 at stumps. Tom Bailey starred with a brilliant five-wicket haul, including a wicket with the very first ball of the game.
Early Wickets Set the Tone
Bailey struck immediately, bowling Zain-ul-Hassan around his legs with the opening delivery. With James Anderson sidelined due to a side strain, Jake Blatherwick joined Bailey with the new ball and quickly helped Glamorgan collapse to 20 for 2. Despite Asa Tribe’s good form, Lancashire’s bowlers dominated.
“𝑻𝒐𝒎 𝑩𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒚’𝒔 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔,” 𝒂 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
By lunch, Glamorgan were 114 for 6, though a stubborn 82-run seventh-wicket partnership delayed the collapse. Personal milestones came for the visitors, with Timm van der Gugten reaching a half-century in his 100th match, Kiran Carlson scoring his 1000th run of the season, and Mason Crane recording his highest score of the summer at 42.
Lancashire Close Strong
After lunch, Bailey continued to wreak havoc, finishing with 5-51, while George Balderson also chipped in to reduce Glamorgan to 265. In response, Keaton Jennings and Luke Wells opened steadily for Lancashire, ending the day 55 for 0.
“𝑱𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆, 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒘𝒐,” 𝒂 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
With Lancashire currently sixth in the table, a strong performance could lift them to third depending on other results. Meanwhile, Glamorgan’s second-place promotion had already been confirmed, making the match a showcase of Lancashire’s dominance and Bailey’s star turn.
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