County Championship: Tribe epic puts Glamorgan on top v Northamptonshire

Glamorgan chose to bat against a Northants side with T20 Blast Finals Day on their minds, including debutants Ramesh and Lincolnshire seamer Ben Whitehouse, with India’s Yuzvendra Chahal departing early and Rob Keogh on paternity leave.

The pitch looked likely to take spin but it was the vagaries in bounce that troubled Glamorgan as they sought to rebuild after the early loss of Zain Ul Hassan, caught behind off Procter.

Tribe was leading the way as he continued in prime form, but got little support before lunch.

Captain Sam Northeast (17) took a blow to the elbow off Whitehouse before edging Justin Broad to clip, while Procter switched ends to have Kiran Carlson caught behind for four.

Then came delight for Ramesh as he had Ingram caught at mid-off, having already struck a couple of sumptuous off-drives in his 18.

The 21-year-old pair of Tribe and Ben Kellaway put together a lively stand of 61 before Kellaway was bowled round his legs for 23 by leg-spinner Calvin Harrison, returning from Notts on another loan deal.

But that was the only wicket of the afternoon session as Tribe went on to his century off 150 balls with a fortunate bottom edge off Harrison, being forced to work hard for his runs through the middle of the day.

Chris Cooke settled in well and then prospered alongside him despite being on the end of some low bounce from the seamers at the David Capel end, with skipper Procter (2-56) leading the attack from the front.

Some muscular hitting from Cooke, with 12 fours and a six in his highest score of the season, took the pressure off Tribe as he accelerated before the new ball.

But Cooke was denied a century as he pulled Liam Guthrie to deep mid-wicket where Broad took a well-judged tumbling catch to give the home side much-needed relief.

That was as far as their success went as Tribe took his boundary tally to 25 fours and two sixes, while Timm van der Gugten (18 not out) kept him solid company to the close.

Glamorgan’s Chris Cooke told BBC Sport Wales:

“A satisfying day in the end after it was a bit tricky early on with the half past ten start and the ball doing a bit, but the way Asa played was brilliant and we’re all really chuffed for him, great to be there were he reached his hundred.

“It’s a used wicket and the ball was going a little bit up and down before it flattened out a bit, so it was about getting a partnership going. We dovetailed well together and Asa’s been batting really well lately, hitting the ball so well and it’s great to see him put in another big performance for the club.

“I think he already is (being considered for England Lions), the sky’s the limit for him and he’s come on leaps and bounds, he’s shown he can make the jump to the highest level with a fantastic temperament. I don’t think it’ll be any surprise if he gets higher honours this winter or next.”

Northants debutant Nirvan Ramesh told BBC Radio Northampton:

“It was a great day the second I got to bowl was brilliant as I’ve been wanting to do this for a very long time. It’s probably not as well as the boys wanted to do (as a team) but we fought hard on a tough day.

“It’s an honour to represent this county and to be playing in the same club as greats like (international spinners) Anil Kumble and Graeme Swann.

“It’s all down to the coaches and their belief and trust in me, I’m really grateful for the way they’ve backed me since I’ve been here for quite a short time.”