Glamorgan keep promotion hopes alive with good start against Sussex

India batter Shubman Gill led the way with an unbeaten 91 off just 102 balls, while skipper David Lloyd, fresh from his triple hundred against Derbyshire last week, scored 56 against a tame Sussex attack.

Skipper Lloyd bucked the recent trend at Hove by batting first when play began an hour late because of morning rain and his decision was quickly justified as Glamorgan made serene progress on a flat pitch.

Brad Currie was the pick of the Sussex attack and took two wickets, but the home side, who have not bowled an opposition out twice all season, struggled to back him up.

Pakistan all-rounder Faheem Ashraf, playing the final game of a three-match trial before Sussex decide whether to sign him for 2023, was withdrawn after bowling three wayward overs for 21 runs with the new ball.

Effective

At the Cromwell Road end Currie was much more effective and he broke through in his fifth over when Eddie Byrom was surprised by a ball that left him off the pitch which he edged to wicketkeeper Charlie Tear for 21.

Gill and Lloyd put on 57 in 12 overs between further stoppages either side of lunch with few alarms, with Lloyd, who scored an unbeaten 313 in his last Championship innings, passing 50 for the sixth time this season.

It was a surprise when left-armer Sean Hunt went round the wicket and thudded the ball low into his pads as the batter played half-forward. Lloyd’s 56 came off 64 balls with six fours and two sixes.

Sam Northeast became Currie’s second victim when he edged an outswinger which Tom Alsop caught low at first slip, with the total 151 in only the 27th over.

Even with the floodlights on, Gill and Billy Root had little trouble in adding a further 70 runs in 15 overs before the players came off again 20 minutes after tea because of bad light.

Gill, strong on the front foot and dismissive of anything short, hit two sixes, including an effortless pick-up over mid-wicket off Currie that was the shot of the day, and 11 fours.

Root was unbeaten on 17.

Umpires Paul Baldwin and Tom Lungley held two further inspections before calling play off at 5.15pm, but Glamorgan will feel it was a productive day.