Craig Meschede shines with bat after rain delays Cardiff start

Craig Meschede scored his second first-class century as Glamorgan's middle and lower order thrilled on day one against Northants at the Swalec Stadium.

Meschede scored 107 off 109 balls to help Glamorgan recover from 150-6 to 371 all out on a day when they scored at more than five-an-over after early rain in Cardiff delayed the start of the LV= County Championship Division Two game.

Things started poorly for the home side, who lost Jacques Rudolph for one and Will Bragg for only four inside the first seven overs, falling to 19-2.

Ben Wright (22) and Colin Ingram (45) helped them recover a little but it was only when Chris Cooke and Meschede, on loan from Somerset, came together that their innings began to come alive.

Hitting the visiting attack to all corners, Cooke smashed 10 fours in a fine innings of 73 but found himself outshone by Meschede, who proved to be a thorn in the Northants side after coming in at eight.

He added a further 63 for the ninth wicket with Ruadhri Smith, who was closing on a best first-class score when he was left stranded on 49 as their innings came to an end.

Rory Kleinveldt claimed 3-91 for Northants, going at nearly five an over, while there were two wickets apiece for David Willey and Azharullah, who was the only bowler to restrict Glamorgan's batsmen in his 2-56 off 18 overs.

Ben Raine returned career-best figures of 5-48 in 18 overs as Leicestershire took the honours on a rain-affected day of their match against Essex at Chelmsford.

Taking full advantage of overcast conditions and a greenish pitch, the right-arm paceman posed problems to all the Leicestershire batsmen to fully justify skipper Mark Cosgrave's decision to insert his rivals as they were bowled out for 166.

Raine's main weapon was swing and he could have reaped a bigger harvest so often did he beat the bat, sometimes with deliveries that lifted awkwardly.

He embarked upon his destructive course by removing Tom Westley and Jaik Mickleburgh in successive overs after the pair had shared in a second-wicket stand of 43 following the loss of Nick Browne, who was caught in the slip cordon in Clint McKay's first over of the day.

Raine later had Jesse Ryder well caught on the deep fine leg boundary by Ned Eckersley, the New Zealander making 38, the top-score of the home side's innings.

Ryan ten Doeschate and James Foster were his other victims as Essex, who gave a first-class debut to 20 year-old slow left-arm bowler Aron Nijjar, were left still seeking their first batting point of the season at Chelmsford having failed to reach 200 in their first innings in their previous two matches on the ground.

On a day when 27 overs were lost to rain and bad light, Leicestershire's openers Matt Boyce and Angus Robson reached the close on 28-0 from seven overs to complete a rewarding day in their quest to end a sequence of 37 Championship matches without a victory.

It was a disappointing day for anyone who turned up at the Kia Oval hoping to see Kevin Pietersen fire another salvo at the England hierarchy as he made just two as Surrey ended day one of their clash with Lancashire on 145-4.

It was Pietersen's first appearance for Surrey since he scored a career-best 355 not out against Leicestershire and was then told that he would not be selected for England this summer.

Play did not get under way until mid-afternoon because of rain and Pietersen did not arrive at the crease until the last over before tea. He was to be there for only five minutes.

He faced only one ball before the interval, getting off the mark with a quick single, and then, after a brief delay for bad light, only two more afterwards. He took another single off the first from Kyle Jarvis but then got a good one which lifted and left him and he could only edge it low to first slip, where Paul Horton went down to his right to take a good catch.

Lancashire, who had started the game 32 points ahead of Surrey at the top of the second division having played a game more, were jubilant and understandably so after what Pietersen had done to Leicestershire.

They had put Surrey in and Tom Bailey in particular gave Rory Burns and Zafar Ansari a thorough examination before he had Burns caught behind by wicketkeeper Alex Davies for 12.

Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara did not find it any easier, scoring 10 off 43 balls before he pulled Jordan Clark to long leg where James Faulkner, the Australia all-rounder making his championship debut, held a good catch.

Pietersen came and went and Surrey were struggling at 74-4 when Ansari, who had shrugged off a painful blow on the left elbow from Jarvis to reach 37 off 96 balls with five fours, edged him to first slip where Horton again took the catch.

Jarvis also beat Steven Davies with three successive balls but Davies, who has become Surrey's most consistent batsman, despite the presence of Sangakkara and Pietersen, was undeterred. By the close, he had made 41 off 54 balls with eight fours and Jason Roy (21no) had helped him put on an unbroken 71 for the fifth wicket.

Michael Klinger eased the painful memory of his last game at Derby by rescuing Gloucestershire on a rain-shortened opening day of their game against Derbyshire.

The 34-year-old Australian had his left arm broken by a ball from Mark Footitt in a one-day match at the 3aaa County Ground in August, but he marked his first championship appearance of the season with an unbeaten 93 to steer Gloucestershire to 251-6 at the close.

Tom Taylor took 3-64 and Tony Palladino celebrated his 300th first-class wicket to reduce Gloucestershire to 159-6, but Jack Taylor made an unbeaten 58 in an unbroken stand of 92 with Klinger.

Mark Footitt quickly justified Derbyshire's decision to put Gloucestershire in after play finally began just before 2pm by claiming his 200th championship wicket when he deceived Chris Dent, who was lbw offering no shot.

Will Tavare fell to a stunning one-handed catch low down by Billy Godleman at square leg to give Taylor his first wicket, but the young seamer could easily have had more as he repeatedly beat the bat in his first spell from the Racecourse End.

Derbyshire should have removed Klinger when he top-edged a pull on 21, but Palladino lost the ball in the sun as he ran in from long leg and the home side were made to pay for that as the Australian played with increasing confidence.

He smashed leg-spinner Matt Critchley back over his head for six to take Gloucestershire past 100 and drove him for another four, but the rest of the top order fell away either side of tea.

Gareth Roderick miscued a pull at Palladino to deep square leg in the last over before the interval and Hamish Marshall was caught on the crease by Taylor in the second over of the final session.

Taylor was rewarded for maintaining a full length when he trapped Geraint Jones in front as Gloucestershire lost three wickets for only eight runs in 42 balls to slump to 119-5.

The fact that Klinger faced 19 balls after tea for the six runs he needed to get to his fifty was an indication of how well Derbyshire bowled, and Palladino reached his milestone by holding a return catch when Benny Howell checked a drive.

Derbyshire were well on top at that stage but Taylor counter-attacked impressively, driving and pulling Taylor for three fours in four balls, and taking 12 from a Footitt over as runs flowed late in the day.