| County Championship Division Two, 1st Central County Ground, Hove (day one) |
| Glamorgan 123 (37.4 overs): Harris 28*; Robinson 4-29, Karvelas 3-30 |
| Sussex 221-4 (56 overs): Smith 68*, Haines 58, Coles 50*; McIlroy 2-47, Neser 2-51 |
| Sussex (3 pts) lead Glamorgan (1 pt) by 98 runs with six first-innings wickets standing |
| Match scorecard |
England paceman Ollie Robinson and Australia batter Steve Smith hit pre-Ashes form as they saw Sussex into a dominant position against Glamorgan.
The hostile Robinson took 4-29, including Marnus Labuschagne for one, as Glamorgan were shot out for 123.
Tom Haines (58) and Smith (68 not out) then took Sussex into the lead.
Smith and James Coles (50 not out) added 90 unbeaten in the evening sun as they steered Sussex to 221-4.
The appearance of international stars and sunny weather brought a healthy crowd to Hove for Smith’s only home appearance in his brief three-match spell on the south coast, and he rewarded them with a chanceless knock.
After Cheteshwar Pujara won the toss, Glamorgan’s start gave little sign of what was to come with the first wicket not falling until the 10th over, but Sussex’s four man seam attack got to work with a vengeance for the rest of the session.
The pitch appeared to offer a little movement off the seam with the occasional ball keeping low from the Cromwell Road end, with the home bowlers showing a discipline that the visitors could not match later in the day.
Labuschagne took a quick single to get off the mark second ball but was undone by the first delivery he received from Robinson, nipping back and hitting him low down.
Glamorgan did not help themselves with Billy Root (18) bowled by Tom Haines without playing a shot and acting captain Kiran Carlson going the same way for 8, his middle stump being knocked back by extensive movement off the pitch from Robinson.
The England man, whose previous county outing brought him 14 wickets at Worcester, took 3-12 in his second spell of four overs with Glamorgan’s other Australian, Michael Neser, also leg-before.
With Ari Karvelas and Fynn Hudson-Prentice also picking up wickets, Glamorgan slumped to 83-8 at lunch with only debutant Zain Ul Hassan, an all-rounder pressed into service as an opener, making any batting impression in a knock of 22.
James Harris (28 not out) and Chris Cooke (20) steered Glamorgan past three figures before Karvelas induced both Cooke and Jamie McIlroy to edge slip catches to Smith.
In contrast, Ali Orr and Haines raced to 76 inside 13 hard-hitting overs before Orr (40) was bowled playing no shot at Jamie McIlroy, while a switch of ends paid dividends for Michael Neser as he won lbw shouts against Tom Alsop and Pujara with three wickets going for seven runs.
Haines and Smith added 48 before Haines was caught at slip for 58 off McIlroy and the scoring rate dropped for a while before teenager James Coles hit his stride, latching onto anything loose while Smith moved along serenely in the evening sun, his half-century coming off 98 balls.
Coles also reached his half-century in the final over as Labuschagne’s spin could not break the Sussex grip on the game.
Sussex all-rounder Tom Haines told BBC Radio Sussex:
“We bowled well, put it in the right areas for long periods and managed to get our rewards. It’s a massive bonus having a world-class bowler in Ollie Robinson in our side, you’re guaranteed three or four wickets.
“For the first ten overs, the new ball skidded on and we thought we were in for a long day in the field, then the lacquer came off and it started swinging and nipping a bit more.
“It was nice to get a few then I got a decent ball. It’s great batting with Steve Smith as a world class player, he’s very chilled out in the middle and nice to bat with.
“There’s been a few chats (with Smith) trying to pick up knowledge, the same with ‘Puj’ (Pujara) as well for the last 18 months, it’s been amazing to have two world-class batters in our team.”
Glamorgan coach Matthew Maynard told BBC Sport Wales:
“There was a bit in the wicket in that morning session and they had a bowling attack to exploit that, Robinson is a fine bowler, one of the best in the country and we never got any partnerships going.
“They bowled how we’ve been bowling, then the heavy roller took a bit of life out of the pitch and they counter-attacked us well. Steve Smith only played and missed once, he’s a class player and played very well as did Coles.
“Zain (ul Hassan) shaped up very well with the bat, he’s faced a great bowler in Robinson then he got the opportunity to bowl to Steve Smith so a really good opportunity on his first day, on a personal level he can be chuffed.
“We’ve got to fight back and hope the wicket goes up and down in the fourth innings.”
