Northeast and Carlson tons boost Glam v Middlesex

Rothesay County Championship Division Two, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff (day one)

Glamorgan 334-7 (96 overs): Northeast 122, Carlson 109; Roland-Jones 4-73, Higgins 3-44

Middlesex: Yet to bat

Glamorgan 2 pts, Middlesex 2 pts

Match scorecard

Hundreds from Sam Northeast and Kiran Carlson took Glamorgan to a solid 334-7 after being put in to bat by Middlesex.

Captain Toby Roland-Jones led from the front for the visitors, taking two wickets with each of the new balls.

Skipper Northeast's composed 122 and a more aggressive 109 from Carlson dominated the middle of the day in a stand of 228.

It marked a remarkable recovery from 52-3 when Australia's Marnus Labuschagne was dismissed by Ryan Higgins for 23, following a hostile opening spell from Roland-Jones.

But Middlesex claimed four wickets late in the evening to fight back towards parity.

While Middlesex were unchanged, Glamorgan gave a surprise one-off appearance to Australia left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann in place of Sri Lanka paceman Asitha Fernando, with Tom Bevan replacing in-form Ben Kellaway, who is sitting university exams.

Roland-Jones took the initiative on a fairly grassy wicket as he had Zain Ul Hassan caught behind for 11 and Asa Tribe caught at slip for 12 in a typically threatening spell on a ground where he has often done well.

South African Dane Paterson had Labuschagne in early trouble in a rehearsal of a potential World Test Championship final battle, beating him several times as he got off the mark with an edged four and conceding just nine runs in seven overs.

Labuschagne had four boundaries, including one bonus from overthrows, when he was squared up and edged Ryan Higgins low to Leus du Plooy at second slip.

Northeast rode his luck initially as he dug in alongside Carlson, who was more fluent as they brought up the 100 in the 38th over.

But the perils eased in the afternoon sunshine with the pair rotating the strike efficiently and increasing the run-rate without taking too many risks.

Carlson's second century of the season saw his innings include 11 fours as he took on the challenges laid down by the bowlers.

Northeast, using his years of experience, struck 10 fours and a straight six off Zafar Gohar.

But the second new ball brought much-needed relief for Middlesex as Roland-Jones had Carlson caught behind and Bevan lbw for three, while Higgins finally got his just rewards as he bowled Northeast and had Timm van der Gugten caught at gully in the same over.

Chris Cooke (32 not out) batted out the day to give the hosts hope of building further on day two.

Glamorgan captain Sam Northeast told BBC Sport Wales:

"We had to work hard for it as they bowled really well in the morning session when it was definitely doing something. Then it got easier as we went on and we were able to build a partnership, put them under pressure through running and bat away the bad ball when it came.

"It's nice to get my first 100 of the season here, I didn't think I was ever going to get one again! I worked hard this morning and found some rhythm, Kiran helped me out and we're really happy with the day's play.

"Matt Kuhneman is an international bowler, we hope he's going to find his rhythm here and he's fitted in well, so we're spoilt for choice at the minute."

Middlesex's Ryan Higgins said:

"In the first session the ball beat the bat quite a lot, it was a strange wicket at times and to be fair Northeast and Carlson played pretty well.

"It's nice to get a bit of a reward at the end with the newer ball, we needed to finish strongly and got our rewards in the last 16 overs though we'd have liked to have kept their scorer a bit lower."