Labuschagne stars for Glamorgan

An unbeaten half-century by world No.1 Test batsman Marnus Labuschagne guided Glamorgan to a seven-wicket victory over Nottinghamshire in the LV Insurance County Championship.

It was Glamorgan’s first win at Trent Bridge since 1998 on their first visit to the ground for a red-ball match since 2007.

Chasing 166 to win in the fourth innings after taking Nottinghamshire’s final two second-innings wickets inside the first hour of play, Glamorgan wrapped up a 23-point win before tea on the final afternoon.

Australian Labuschagne, in his first game back with the Welsh county after successful summers in 2019 and 2021, was dropped on 25, although it is doubtful that the miss had any bearing on the outcome of the match.

It is a sobering result for Nottinghamshire, a popular tip to be Division Two champions this season.

Ben Duckett came close to scoring a century in each innings but it was generally a below-par performance by the home side, particularly with the ball.

James Pattinson, in his first match back at Trent Bridge, was out-bowled by fellow Aussies Michael Naser and Michael Hogan, while Australia-born Netherlands seamer Timm Van Der Gugten made an outstanding contribution both with bat and ball.

Nottinghamshire added 18 runs to their overnight lead of 147 before Glamorgan winkled out their last two wickets.

Brett Hutton shouldered arms to the ball that bowled him – one of three dismissals in the match where the batter offered no shot.

Joey Evison made a creditable 37 before gloving a legside catch to wicketkeeper Chris Cooke as he went to pull James Weighell.

Evison batted with a runner and was unable to bowl as Glamorgan set about their chase, one in which Nottinghamshire needed a salvo of early wickets if they were to create any real pressure for the batters on a wicket that had lasted well.

None were forthcoming as openers David Lloyd and Andrew Salter rattled along at four runs an over before the latter departed in the 14th, the home side’s ambitions not helped by Pattinson conceding 22 in three overs.

Salter was lbw as left-arm spinner Liam Patterson-White managed to squeeze the ball past his inside edge.

There was a second setback for Glamorgan in the last over before lunch when Lloyd was also out to a ball he chose to leave, Dane Paterson bringing one back to clip off stump.

Paterson and Patterson-White applied a squeeze after lunch. That changed when Labuschagne lofted the left-arm spinner for six over long-off and Sam Northeast crashed four through the covers.

But when Northeast took on a short ball from Pattinson in the next over, he was caught at long-leg by Paterson, who struggled to track the flight of the ball against the glare of the sky before landing on his back with ball in hand.

Northeast’s dismissal took one of Glamorgan’s potential match-winners out of the equation but others remained, not least Labuschagne, who had a let-off behind the stumps when Tom Moores dived across first slip but could not cling on to an edge off Paterson’s bowling.

Labuschagne completed his half-century when he cut Pattinson for just his third four, before Kiran Carlson, who made 47 in a stand worth 74, completed the victory with a flourish, handing Pattinson the indignity of being hooked for six to win the contest with 39 overs to spare.