Anuj Dal struck his maiden first-class half-century as Derbyshire fought hard on an even Day Two of the Specsavers County Championship match against Glamorgan at The Pattonair County Ground.
Responding to the hosts’ 378 all out, Glamorgan – led by Billy Root (53 not out) – closed on 214-4, with the wickets shared among the Derbyshire attack.
After a steady start to the day from Derbyshire, Matt Critchley was the first to fall as he was caught by Nick Selman off the bowling of Dan Douthwaite at the beginning of the 76th over.
Having been unbeaten on 63 overnight, Alex Hughes was unable to reach three figures after being bowled by Lukas Carey for a score of 82.
As Derbyshire progressed beyond 300 runs, Carey remained a constant threat and he claimed his third wicket by beating the defence of Logan van Beek to bowl him for four.
Tony Palladino also fell to Carey after hooking the ball high into the air and being caught in the deep by Jeremy Lawlor for 10, meaning that the bowler achieved career-best figures of 4-61 .
Dal managed his maiden first-class 50 off 89 balls, which included five fours and was backed up by Ravi Rampaul as the pair pushed hard in a 50-run stand for the final wicket.
Dal eventually fell for 64 off the bowling of Michael Hogan, with Rampaul unbeaten on 11 as Derbyshire were all out for 378.
After the Glamorgan opening partnership of Selman and Charlie Hemphrey put on a resolute 44, the former was caught by Critchley at third slip off the bowling of Palladino in the 21st over, the bowler’s 350th wicket for Derbyshire in all formats.
With Luis Reece and Palladino keeping runs at a premium for the visitors, Glamorgan held on to go in at tea 60-1, with Hemphrey on 25.
After tea, Rampaul struck to remove Marnus Labuschagne lbw for 14, leaving Glamorgan 70-2 and Derbyshire looking for further breakthroughs to take control.
A 51-run stand between Hemphrey and David Lloyd helped to put Glamorgan in a good position before the latter fell after being caught by Dal off the bowling of Reece.
Hemphrey brought up his half-century in 132 balls, striking nine fours in that time and providing strong resistance to some good Derbyshire bowling.
Glamorgan passed 150 with Billy Root and Hemphrey at the crease, as the visitors continued to whittle away at Derbyshire’s first innings total and the pair surpassed their 50-run partnership.
Hemphrey eventually fell for 75 lbw to van Beek, as Derbyshire looked to fight back before the end of Day Two. His partnership with Root stood at 68 when the wicket fell.
Root’s half-century came from 61 balls, as he hit nine fours on his way to 50. The visitors closed on 214-4 with the game finely poised heading into Day 3.
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