Glamorgan’s Kiran Carlson makes declaration in bid for result against Derbyshire

Glamorgan captain Kiran Carlson tried to engineer a result in the final County Championship game of the season by declaring on 301 for five against Derbyshire at Sophia Gardens.

As soon as the follow on had been averted, Carlson called his batters back into the pavilion, even though they looked well capable of getting close to the first-innings total of 450 runs posted by Derbyshire.

Three of their top-five batters recorded half-centuries, but with time running out, and bad light inevitably affecting the latter stages, Carlson declared at 4.10pm when Billy Root was dismissed.

Failing light

That gave Derbyshire 25 tricky overs to face in failing light in the Welsh capital. After opening with their pace attack, Glamorgan were forced to turn to their spinners before the umpires finally had enough with five overs left to play.

At that stage Derbyshire were 68 without loss, stretching their lead in the game to 217 runs. Harry Came was unbeaten on 28 and Luis Reece was just ahead on 33 – chasing a club-record seventh innings of 50 or more.

Starting day three with a 428-run deficit, Glamorgan made steady progress but lost both openers before lunch. Eddie Byrom (11) was first to go, caught in the gully by Anuj Dal off Zak Chappell with the score on 45.

The free-flowing Zain Ul-Hassan succumbed just before lunch when he became the first of Alex Thomson’s four victims.

Back at the same Sophia Gardens venue where he made his first-class debut as captain of the Cardiff MCC University team in 2014, the Derbyshire spinner was the most prolific bowler used by the visitors and ended with figures of four for 97 to notch his third four-wicket haul of the month.

Ul-Hassan managed nine boundaries and a six in his 65 and he steered the Welsh county through the century mark and on to 130 before he departed. Colin Ingram had joined him and wafted at his first two balls and missed.

Ingram eventually got into full flow after lunch as he notched 82 off 95 balls, including 15 boundaries, before he also fell to Thomson. He put on 85 with Ul-Hassan and then 61 with Carlson for the third wicket.

Carlson helped himself to 36 before he was bowled by Thomson’s off-spin. Billy Root (53) and Chris Cooke (41no) then sped thing sup as they put on 64 for the fifth wicket before the former was stumped off Thomson.