Bamber bulldozes Glamorgan to boost Warwickshire title hopes

Seamer takes 50th wicket of season on way to five-way haul as Glamorgan fold for 69

Warwickshire 154 for 3 (Young 60) lead Glamorgan 69 (Bamber 5-28, Barnard 3-5) by 85 runs

Warwickshire bowled Glamorgan out for 69 in a single session to take control on the opening day of an important Rothesay County Championship fixture at both ends of the table in Cardiff.

Ethan Bamber took all of Glamorgan's first five wickets to finish with figures of 5 for 28, supported by Ed Barnard's effective five-over spell of 3 for 5. Bamber passed 50 wickets for the season in the process, behind only Kyle Abbott in Division One.

Glamorgan's remarkably poor effort with the bat, down to a combination of poor batting and impressively disciplined new-ball bowling, was their lowest score since being bowled out for 60 against Middlesex in 2007.

In response, title-chasing Warwickshire made the most of batting before 4pm to end the day with an 85-run lead at 159 for 3, as New Zealander Will Young rectified some struggling form since his arrival with 60.

After play was unable to start until 1.30pm due to morning rain, Glamorgan captain Kiran Carlson surprisingly chose to bat first on winning the toss. It took only four balls for Bamber to strike, bowling first-class debutant Jack Hope-Bell after he had survived an lbw shout.

Bamber struck in five of his first seven overs, Carlson himself falling for a six-ball duck after missing an in-ducker. But Asa Tribe and Ben Kellaway's dismissals were the result of indiscipline rather than Bamber's own skill: Kellaway drove a wide ball to point, before Tribe flashed hard outside his off stump to edge behind.

Colin Ingram hit four fours in his run-a-ball 19, the top score of the Glamorgan innings, but lost his off stump to a ball that angled in then nipped away from around the wicket, as Bamber completed his five-for in just 37 balls.

Barnard struck three times in five overs after bringing himself into the attack, while Olly Hannon-Dalby and Manav Suthar also struck as Glamorgan folded in just 26.3 overs.

Things got no better for Glamorgan, and Warwickshire demonstrated that their collapse could not be blamed solely on the pitch. Warwickshire's openers added 65 before Rob Yates swept Kellaway's offspin to short fine leg, and Young cruised to a 94-ball half-century.

Dan Mousley miscued Kellaway to wide mid-off where Jamie McIlroy took an excellent catch, while Tribe's bad day got worse when Young smashed a drag-down from Kellaway into his helmet at short leg, causing him to leave the field for some time before returning late in the day.

Mir Hamza picked up the day's final wicket of Young, chopping on with seven overs to play, but Warwickshire were well and truly in control.