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Day one Glamorgan 232 Surrey 121-0
Chris Tremlett and Tom Curran shared nine wickets between them as Surrey dominated the opening day of their LV= County Championship Division Two clash with Glamorgan at Colwyn Bay.
Glamorgan, despite winning the toss, were dismissed for only 232 in their first innings as Tremlett finished with five for 60, while Curran returned figures of four for 88 from 21 overs.
Both bowlers exploited the early conditions as the Colwyn Bay pitch, which had started slightly damp, offered plenty of seam movement. Only Jim Allenby (69), Chris Cooke (45) and Will Owen (37no) offered any real resistance.
In reply, Surrey openers Rory Burns and Zafar Ansari both struck unbeaten half-centuries to strengthen Surrey’s position. They finished the day on 121 for no loss, just 111 behind.
On a pitch which had a greenish tinge and was also a little two-paced Glamorgan found themselves 15 for three inside 10 overs.
Colwyn Bay has been renowned as a high-scoring ground but Surrey’s three-pronged seam attack of Tremlett, Matt Dunn and Curran enjoyed dominance with the new ball – so much so that spinner Gareth Batty was not required and Ansari bowled only two overs.
Tremlett bowled Jacques Rudolph with one which nipped back through the gate and trapped Ben Wright first ball playing across the line, after Will Bragg had been caught at first slip by Vikram Solanki off Curran via a parry by Jason Roy at second.
After a brief break for rain Glamorgan’s collapse continued when Murray Goodwin was caught behind attempting to cut a wide one from Curran. It left Glamorgan 43 for four.
Cooke struck five of Glamorgan’s first seven boundaries, making the most of Surrey’s attacking intent which saw them utilise four slips or three slips and a gully for almost the entire innings.
Shortly after lunch, which Glamorgan had reached at 81 for four, Cooke was trapped in front by Curran. He went for 45 with seven fours.
As the sun started drying out the surface Allenby showed what was possible by reaching a half-century including 11 fours. But while he looked secure at one end, he lost both Mark Wallace and Ruaidri Smith in the space of five overs.
Captain Wallace was caught behind to give Dunn his only victim while Curran claimed his fourth when Smith was caught at third slip.
Will Owen took over from where Allenby left off with a couple of lusty blows. But he lost Dean Cosker, who produced two fine drives for four before playing on to Tremlett, who claimed the final wicket to fall as Michael Hogan was caught at cover.
Unfortunately for Glamorgan, with the sun shining continuously since the lunch interval, Hogan and Smith did not look at all as threatening as their Surrey counterparts.
The easier conditions allowed Burns to reach his half-century from 79 balls and Ansari followed just before the close from 131 balls.
Surrey captain Gary Wilson was delighted with his side’s efforts.
He said: “We were going to have a bat if we had won the toss. I don’t think it was a minefield of a pitch but Chris Tremlett and Tom Curran bowled really well, extracting anything from the wicket there was.”
Toss and Team news
Glamorgan won the toss and will bat against Surrey.
The Welsh county made two changes from the team who lost by 249 runs against Worcestershire with veteran batsman Murray Goodwin replacing Tom Lancefield and fast bowler Will Owen coming in for spinner Andrew Salter.
Surrey were without an overseas player with Tillakaratne Dilshan unavailable having returned to Sri Lanka for their upcoming three match ODI series against South Africa.
Glamorgan:
J Rudolph, W Bragg, M Goodwin, C Cooke, B Wright, J Allenby, M Wallace (capt), R Smith, D Cosker, W Owen, M Hogan.
Surrey:
R Burns, Z Ansari, A Harinath, V Solanki, S Davies, J Roy, G Wilson (capt), G Batty, T Curran, M Dunn, C Tremlett.
History
The two sides met each other in early April at The Kia Oval in the opening LV=County Championship match of the season.
The game duly saw Glamorgan win by 10 wickets after Graham Wagg took a career-best 6/29 as Surrey were dismissed for a meagre 81 in their second innings.
Glamorgan victories on home soil against Surrey in Championship cricket have been few and far between. Their last home victory came at Swansea in 1983, where the Welsh side completed a successful run-chase on the final afternoon to win by five wickets.
Before that, they were victorious in 1968 at Neath where a superb innings of 85 by Majid Khan laid the foundations of a comprehensive 10-wicket win.
