Derbyshire had a successful first day of the Vitality County Championship match against Glamorgan in Cardiff, thanks to Alex Thomson's career-best bowling performance. Thomson claimed seven wickets as Glamorgan were bowled out for 237 after Derbyshire won the toss and chose to field.
Although Kiran Carlson was Glamorgan's top scorer with 74, regular wickets throughout the day prevented the home side from building any significant partnerships, with the highest being just 60.
Derbyshire faced 16 overs before the close and finished on 46 for 1, with Luis Reece being the only wicket to fall. Derbyshire may be happier with their performance, but there is enough evidence to suggest that this could be a closely contested match.
Glamorgan appeared to be settling in the opening overs after being put into bat by Derbyshire. However, this changed when New Zealand international Blair Tickner joined the attack. He achieved significant movement through the air and off the seam, dismissing Billy Root for 23 with his fourth delivery.
This brought Sam Northeast to the crease. Northeast had scored 521 runs in first-class cricket since his last dismissal and was fresh from his record-breaking 355 not out at Lord's last week, making him the wicket Derbyshire would have most prized. Tickner once again delivered a ball that seamed back into Northeast and crashed into his stumps when he was on just 11.
After the lunch interval, Glamorgan made a comeback in the game with a 60-run partnership between Kiran Carlson and Zain-ul-Hassan. Zain played some beautiful drives straight down the ground and scored 35 runs. He looked increasingly comfortable against the ageing Kookaburra ball. He was stumped by Brooke Guest due to a nicely flighted delivery from Thomson. Zain had advanced down the pitch past the ball, resulting in his dismissal.
Carlson was the fourth batsman to be dismissed, trapped lbw by a ball from Thomson. This was his second score in the seventies in as many innings this season.
As the Glamorgan innings progressed, spin became more of a threat. Thomson bowled intelligently to keep things tight and claim wickets. Colin Ingram was caught in the covers and Chris Cooke was brilliantly taken at leg slip by David Lloyd, who was captaining Derbyshire against his former county.
Thomson continued to trouble the Glamorgan batting line-up, dismissing the hard-hitting Dan Douthwaite for 23 with a low catch off his own bowling. He then bowled James Harris for just 4, beating his attempted sweep shot.
Thomson ended the Glamorgan innings by bowling Mason Crane for 13 when he missed an attempted hoick over long-on. Thomson contributed to a Glamorgan collapse of five wickets for 36 runs, bowling unchanged for 25 overs from the River Taff end.
His bowling figures of 7 for 65 surpass his previous career best of 6 for 138, which he achieved against Hampshire for Cardiff MCCU in 2016. Since Geoff Miller's 8 for 70 against Leicestershire in 1982, it was the best return for a Derbyshire spinner.