Marnus Labuschagne suffered a freak injury scare falling over some steps on what was otherwise a good day for Glamorgan in their LV= Insurance County Championship clash with Kent.

Australian superstar Labuschagne was back in the Glamorgan side after only arriving in Cardiff on Monday, but he suffered a hand problem when he fell entering the field before play started.

The third best Test batsman in the world missed part of the afternoon session while his hand was assessed. He did return to the field as Kent were bowled out for just 138.

David Lloyd claimed four for 11 and Timm van der Gugten four for 41. Glamorgan ended day one 109 for two in response, trailing by just 29 runs. Labuschagne was dismissed for just 11.

Glamorgan won the toss and chose to field.

Kent openers Daniel Bell-Drummond and Jordan Cox put on an untroubled first-wicket stand of 54, but when Bell-Drummond was bowled by Van der Gugten for 31 it gave Glamorgan hope.

England batting coach Marcus Trescothick was in Cardiff to see Zak Crawley immediately into his stride when he got to the crease.

A four through mid-on was his best shot of the first session as he went to lunch unbeaten on 26.

But at the other end his team struggled as Lloyd dismissed Cox and Joe Denly in the same over. Denly, now out of the England picture, was leg before wicket to Lloyd for a fourth-ball duck.

Michael Hogan also accounted for Jack Leaning as Glamorgan took three wickets for just five runs at the end of the first session.

Labuschagne didn’t return to the field after lunch, but Hogan continued to cause trouble and he soon dismissed Heino Kuhn lbw.

Even without Labuschagne, Glamorgan were well on top and they grabbed the key wicket of Crawley as the first drops of rain came down at Sophia Gardens.

The returning Van der Gugten did the damage as Crawley nicked through to Chris Cooke. Crawley’s departure was followed by the players leaving the field.

When they returned, Lloyd cleaned up Darren Stevens and Ollie Robinson was caught by Lloyd off the bowling of Van der Gugten as the Glamorgan pair wrapped up the innings.

Stevens immediately removed Joe Cooke without scoring and then trapped Labuschagne – whose hand injury seemed to be troubling him while batting – lbw.

Lloyd was dropped at slip late on after a second rain break, but continued his impressive start to the season by finishing unbeaten on 54.  

Glamorgan bowler Timm van der Gugten, who took four for 41, said: “We are pretty happy with where we are standing at the moment. It was a nice toss to win and I thought we bowled really well as a unit. The way David Lloyd bowled was outstanding and he definitely deserved a five for.”

“He then batted really positively and punished the loose one. Marnus Labuschagne got a good one from Darren Stevens. He might still be a bit jetlagged because he tripped down the stairs before the start. He missed a step and sprained his wrist, but he will be fine.” 

Kent coach Matt Walker said: “We were very poor. It was not good enough in any aspect. To go from 88 for one to 138 all out is not good enough.”

“It’s hard to put my finger on why, but we’ve had too many days like this already this season. It’s day one and the positive is wickets can go quickly if you bowl in the right area. We’ve got to be better on day two if we want to win this game.”

“Everyone is working hard, but we are just not getting it right on the pitch. I remember from being a player it’s difficult to get out of a bad spot. We have to get out of it quickly, but we won’t hit the panic button. We need to get more balls in the right areas.”