Leicestershire make fast start to reply to keep hopes of win alive

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION ONE ROUNDUP: Glamorgan's Mason Crane fell agonisingly short of a maiden first-class century before Jake Weatherald's century regained control for the visitors

ECB Reporters Network | 25/04/2026 at 18:25

Cardiff (day two of four): Glamorgan 440, Leicestershire 215-1 - Leicestershire trail by 225 runs with nine wickets remaining

Leicestershire kept hopes of a result alive despite just four wickets falling on day two with a strong start to their reply to Glamorgan's 142-over first innings.

A century from Jake Weatherald, who subsequently retired hurt, and 79 from Rishi Patel motored the Foxes to 215 for 1 at the end day two from just 48 over.

It came after Mason Crane fell agonisingly short of a century for his career-best 99 in Glamorgan's 440 – the No.9 became the third batter to fall in the nineties after Carlson (95) and Dickson (90) on day one.

The Leicestershire opening pair bettered their 156-run opening partnership from the Kia Oval in their last fixture, taking just 33 overs to make their free-flowing stand worth 167; the visitors trail Glamorgan by 225 in the first innings.

It was only when Leicestershire brought the field up for the first time since the ninth wicket fell in the four balls left off Ajaz Patel's 46th over that Crane faltered. Three balls were safely defended, followed by a misread slog-sweep for a ball on sixth stump left for Ben Cox to, almost apologetically, remove the bails behind Crane's lifted backfoot to give the wicketkeeper his seventh dismissal of the innings.

The home side's only success came from the part-time off-spin of captain Carlson, who once (and only once) had a five-wicket haul, as an 18-year-old on debut back in 2016. Patel’s top-edged slog-sweep denied him a second consecutive century when it looked as though only he himself could prevent it.

^{Lead image: Huw Evans Picture Agency}