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Kiran Carlson Says T20 Heat May Be Fuelling His Run Charge For Glamorgan

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By David Williams

Kiran Carlson expressed his satisfaction with his current form after he scored a brilliant century to allow Glamorgan to post 390 with the bat on day one of their LV= Insurance County Championship clash against Durham at Seat Unique Riverside.

The Glamorgan skipper scored his second ton of the season against the North-East outfit and his fourth of the campaign to provide the foundation of the visitors’ score after opting to bat.

Carlson was dropped on 67 and 107, and he duly made the hosts pay with his knock of 162 supported by 60 from Sam Northeast and a quick-fire 45 from Billy Root.

Durham toiled in the afternoon session amid Carlson’s onslaught, but debutant Craig Miles and Ben Raine combined with four wickets apiece to lead a late fightback with the new ball to prevent Glamorgan from breaking past the 400-run mark.

The visitors fell from 340 for four to 390 all out, spurning a decent opportunity to bat the hosts out of the game.

Carlson said: “I’m definitely happy with the way I’m batting. I’m in some good rhythm in the four-day stuff so happy to get that score on the board.

“I’m not sure if the aggressive approach was a conscious thing or a bit of T20 coming in, but I had my game-plan, defend straight and score square (of the wicket).

“Durham bowled well and hit their straps with the second new ball, there were a few unplayable balls there but me, Sam and Bill took the bulk of the batting on after Zain and Salts started us off well.

“It was a weird wicket out there, there were periods where it went flat and periods where we were under pressure.

“There’s definitely enough in there if you bowl in the right areas for long enough, there are enough balls to take 20 wickets.”

Durham’s on-loan bowler Craig Miles said: “It’s nice to pick up four wickets on a personal note and we battled back in the last session to get them all out for under 400.

“The new ball was key, Ben Raine bowled brilliantly and deserved wickets earlier than he did get them, he kept charging in and it was nice to take those wickets quickly at the end.

“The guys are happy with how we pulled it back, it’s a pretty good pitch once the ball gets a bit softer so hopefully we can get up beyond their score.”

Both sides were shorn of their Ashes stars as Matthew Potts missed out for the home side, while Glamorgan entered the game without Marnus Labuschagne and Michael Neser. Despite fielding an inexperienced opening pair of Zain ul-Hassan and Andrew Salter, the visitors opted to bat. Salter and Ul-Hassan fended off the initial new-ball burst, working their way to a fifty partnership within the first hour.

But, Durham new boy Miles made the breakthrough with a brute of a short ball before diving to take a return catch to send Ul-Hassan on his way.

Bas de Leede then prised out Colin Ingram and Salter for a well-made 43 as Ollie Robinson took two catches to give Durham the narrow edge in the morning session after reducing the visitors to 81 for 3.

After lunch, Carlson issued an emphatic response taking the attack to the Durham bowlers. The Glamorgan skipper dispatched two sixes against Ajaz Patel and Miles to race his way towards fifty from 72 balls.

Stanley McAlindon had a tough day with the ball as he was given an early warning for a beamer and then struggled with no balls, overstepping several times, as his first six overs cost fifty runs.

McAlindon’s day went from bad to worse when he dropped a simple chance at short mid-wicket to dismiss Carlson for 67, which would loom large over the rest of the innings.

Northeast at the other end was not quite as fluent as Carlson, but he was still able to register his third half-century of the season. The two batters shared a stand worth 168 to provide the foundation of the innings before Miles broke the partnership with a gem to pin Northeast lbw for 60.

Carlson pressed on and notched his 11th first-class century, and fourth of the campaign, continuing his 100% conversion rate in 2023. He was handed yet another life on 107 when Miles put down a diving chance at gully.

Root offered quick runs to maintain the pressure on the hosts, only to fall five short of a half-century to the first delivery from the new ball from Raine.

Carlson continued to defy the hosts by working his way to his second consecutive score of over 150 in the Championship. But the home side fought back in the dying overs of the day as the 25-year-old was finally dismissed to Miles for 162 before James Harris fell in the same over.

Raine ended the Glamorgan innings when he bowled Prem Sisodiya, earning a third bowling bonus point for the hosts and preventing the visitors from taking their score beyond 400.

McAlindon was chosen for nightwatch duties and saw out the final over the day to leave Durham four for nought at the close, 386 behind.

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