Lewis Hill and Colin Ackermann put Leicestershire in strong position against Glamorgan

Leicestershire just about had the upper hand on a rain-affected opening day of their LV= Insurance County Championship against Glamorgan after skipper Lewis Hill and Colin Ackermann shared a 100-run partnership.

Their third-wicket stand provided the main substance in a total of 241 for five as a continuation of the wet spring weather limited play to 66.2 overs.

Hill followed his career-best unbeaten 162 against Derbyshire two weeks ago with a second half-century of the season. The in-form Ackermann, after scores of 67, 72 and 114 in his three previous innings this season, added 45 to raise his tally for the season to 298.

Timm van der Gugten, with four for 45, was the pick of the Glamorgan bowlers, taking two wickets before lunch and another two in the afternoon to keep the home side in check.

Winless and bottom of the table last season, Leicestershire are keen to prove their extraordinary victory over Yorkshire in the opening round of the Division Two programme was no fluke.

As a unit, Glamorgan’s seam-bowling attack struggled to hit the right lengths on a mottled-looking pitch, with the notable exception of Van der Gugten, who took wickets in his first and third overs after coming on at first change at the Bennett End, removing both openers.

Sol Budinger had made 26 before Van der Gugten came round the wicket to knock out his off stump with just his third delivery. Rishi Patel, with whom Budinger put on 43 for the first wicket, soon followed, caught behind off a ball that climbed on him as he tried to force it through the off-side.

Comfortable

Yet Hill and Ackermann looked increasingly comfortable in guiding Leicestershire to 123 for two at lunch, after which Hill hit fours off Michael Neser and David Lloyd to raise his boundary tally to eight in an 82-ball half-century.

However, once the third-wicket pair had taken their partnership to 100 both were dismissed in consecutive overs by Van der Gugten.

He had Ackerman leg before and then finding some movement off the pitch, Van der Gugten followed up by having Hill caught behind, the Leicestershire captain feeling he had to defend his stumps against a ball that nipped away to take the edge.

From 152 for two, the home side were 153 for four in the blink of an eye and Van der Gugten had all four wickets.

Peter Handscomb and Wiaan Mulder were not the worst pair to be charged with a rebuilding job but the South African, in need of a score to settle him in to the new campaign, found his luck out again, bowled by a Michael Neser that he left.

Either side of a two-hour stoppage for rain, Handscomb and Rehan Ahmed added an unbroken 73 for the sixth wicket, of which Ahmed has made 38.