Chappell six-for routs Glamorgan to give Derbyshire upper hand

Derbyshire 119 for 2 (Came 58*) trail Glamorgan 168 (van der Gugten 46*, Chappell 6-47) by 49 runs

Zak Chappell lifted Derbyshire’s hopes of securing an elusive County Championship victory at Derby by demolishing Glamorgan on the opening day of the Division Two match.

The fast bowler took 6 for 47, his best figures for the county, as the visitors were bowled out for 168 with Timm van der Gugten top scoring with an unbeaten 46.

Glamorgan were 32 for 6 before Dan Douthwaite and van der Gugten led a mini recovery but Derbyshire closed on 119 for 2 with Harry Came not out 58. It leaves them in a strong position to push for a first Championship victory at the County Ground since they beat Sussex in August 2019.

On a morning more in keeping with October, Derbyshire’s decision to bowl first on a grassy pitch paid immediate dividends with three wickets falling in the first five overs.

In blustery conditions, Glamorgan’s top order had no answer to Chappell’s relentless accuracy and Luis Reece’s swing as they slumped to 9 for 3. Ben Kellaway’s promotion to opener was short-lived and he followed a pair on his first-class debut last September by edging a ball from Chappell that moved away late to register another duck in his third red-ball innings.

In fairness, his more experienced team-mates fared little better with Billy Root bowled by a Reece delivery that kept low before Sam Northeast pushed forward to Chappell and was caught at second slip.

Kiran Carlson played across one from Chappell that appeared to be going down before Reece got some late swing to have Colin Ingram caught behind. When Chris Cooke was caught behind down the leg side off one of the few bad balls Chappell bowled, Glamorgan were in disarray and grateful for the rain which resulted in an early lunch.

Chappell, who passed 50 wickets in all formats for the season, left the field with outstanding figures of 4 for 9 from 6.4 overs but after the resumption they were dented when Douthwaite hit him for three fours in an over.

With van der Gutgen playing solidly, the pair added 55 from 97 balls in relative comfort before Pat Brown removed Douthwaite with a snorter that nipped away late to take off stump.

Chappell celebrated his fifth wicket when Mason Crane fenced at one to give Brooke Guest his fourth catch but Fraser Sheat on his debut looked capable until he top edged a pull to midwicket.

Ned Leonard marked the first match of his loan spell from Somerset by helping van der Gugten take Glamorgan past 150 and drove Jack Morley’s second ball for six before he tried again next ball and holed out to long-on.

Van der Gugten matched Chappell’s discipline with a probing spell but Sheat and Leonard could not exert the same pressure. Reece and Came shared an unbroken treble-century stand against Glamorgan last season but this time they managed only 21 before Reece was defeated by a full-length ball from van der Gugten.

Guest played a loose stroke, clipping Leonard to midwicket with the score on 41, and Came should have gone on 28 but Ingram at first slip dropped an edge of Leonard.

Came took advantage, seizing on any width to reach an 84-ball fifty which contained 10 fours, and with Wayne Madsen motoring to an unbeaten 41, they added 78 before bad light ended play.