Stand-in captain Kiran Carlson lifted Glamorgan into promotion places with a five-wicket win over Kent at Sophia Gardens.
Kent’s winless run in the Rothesay County Championship continued for an eighth match after setting just 189 on a sun-beaten day four in Cardiff. The visitors remain bottom of Division Two with their last win coming in April while Glamorgan head to second ahead of Derbyshire.
Carlson eliminated any concerns of defeat from 25 for 2 with an unnerved 89 not out, negating the endless spell from Matt Parkinson who claimed 4 for 82.
Nerves would’ve been in both dressing rooms after Kent dominated day three albeit to only give themselves half-a-chance. Glamorgan had a full day to find 164 with eight wickets in hand in sunny conditions with a Kookaburra ball that would age.
Glamorgan’s openers faltering on the previous evening under dim light and a brutal spell from Wes Agar left the captain and nightwatcher James Harris to resume the innings.
The importance of a drop at slip from Daniel Bell-Drummond with Carlson reverse-sweeping on nine could’ve been a turning point as the Welshman took full advantage of a life.
Harris wasn’t as fortunate with his edge to slip to bring Billy Root to the crease. The left-hander playing in his first game this season showed innovation against the vast turn from Parkinson’s leg-spin, looking to sweep or defend as his only options – including getting off the mark first ball with a reverse-sweep for a single.
While his brother was passing Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid in Test folklore at Old Trafford, Root was playing a vital role in taking Glamorgan to potential promotion with 30 from 31 balls in a 68-run partnership; a potentially key innings for his Glamorgan future from a precarious position.
Carlson took a leaf out of Root’s book as the certainty of victory increased, reversing and hard sweeping to go with his typically elegant open-faced guides and backfoot punches to accumulate with ease.
Root’s dismissal brought about another potential twist in the tail – 81 still needed when Colin Ingram strode out.
As Ingram does, Glamorgan’s leading run scorer demonstrated his status with a fearless attack onto the bowlers to set up just 20 runs needed after lunch thanks to second half-century stand of the session. The South African was unable to see home the win with his captain after being dismissed first ball of the afternoon but eye-catching 21-year-old Ben Kellaway at number seven left no concern for the Welsh County to get to victory.
Glamorgan interim Head Coach Richard Dawson:
“The way Kiran and James batted the first half-hour took the sting out of the game, then Bill and Kiran’s partnership had the simplicity of knowing how they were going to score. Kiran’s innings in general was outstanding, looking at how to play with intent, and we did that really well.
“It was a good game and Kent played well but that middle session on day one where we got seven wickets was a big part in getting ahead in the game, then Colin and Ben’s partnership (was key), although we could have got a bigger lead.
“We’re playing good cricket, we wanted to be in contention at this point but we’ve got four hard games left and we’ve got to be consistent, we’re not talking about promotion yet.”
Kent Head Coach Adam Hollioake:
“Probably where we lost it was our middle-order in the first innings (losing six wickets for seven), that was pivotal and even yesterday we had some good partnerships but no-one went on and got three figures, so that’s the area that cost us.
“I’m pretty happy with the ball, the boys toiled well and they’re showing good spirit given all the injuries we’ve had, things are bad when I’ve got the whites on (as a reserve sub fielder).
“It’s our job as coaching staff to problem solve but you can’t attribute the injuries to anything from our pre-season, they’re freak injuries.
“There’s no-one in this competition we’re intimidated by, our biggest opponent is ourself and we’re still trying to work out our template for success.”
Picture supplied by Huw Evans Picture Agency.