Ackermann leads Foxes resolute defence
Mon 24 Aug 2020
DAY THREE | Leicestershire CCC 222 & 143 for three v Nottinghamshire CCC 343 for 8d
SCORECARD | Available from Cricinfo HERE.
REPORT | Ben Mike led the Leicestershire fightback in the morning session of day three with three wickets on his birthday.
Leicestershire took a total of six wickets in the morning as Nottinghamshire chose to declare prior to lunch.
Colin Ackermann posted 58no as he led the staunch Leicestershire defence in the second innings, with Sam Evans posting a useful 48.
Day three began at the Fischer County Ground in glorious sunshine as the wind and rain of the previous two days seemed a long way away.
It took three deliveries for the action to spark into life as Joe Clarke (2) looped up Ben Mike’s short delivery to mid-on where Gavin Griffiths watched the ball carefully as he took the easy grab.
Following the 63.3 over partnership for the first wicket, the following second and third wickets have failed to have the same impact as Nottinghamshire captain Steven Mullaney joins Ben Duckett at the crease.
On his 22nd birthday, Ben Mike was the in-form man for Leicestershire as he took his second of the day as Duckett (37) looked to send his short delivery over the rope for a six, but was caught superbly on the leg-side boundary by Harry Dearden.
Nottinghamshire now sat on 258 for four as Samit Patel joined his captain at the crease.
Five Mike deliveries later, and Leicestershire had their fifth wicket – the third of the day for the young paceman.
He teased Nottinghamshire captain Mullaney (18) with a delivery down the off side which the batsman tried to pull away through the leg side. Though, all he managed to do was chop on and send his leg stump flying.
Ninety overs had passed meaning Leicestershire had the opportunity to take a new ball, which, following discussion, they did.
The Running Foxes would soon be happy to have made the choice to take the new ball as Tom Taylor struck with it straight away, smashing Samit Patel’s (13) middle and off sticks.
Leicestershire looked reinvigorated following a tough day yesterday as the wickets kept falling with Gavin Griffiths getting in on the act.
The 26-year old claimed the wicket of Tom Moores (5) after sneaking a delicious yorker under his bat and smashing his off stump out of the ground.
Nottinghamshire were having trouble forming another telling partnership as they now sat on 293 for seven.
The eighth wicket partnership proved to be difficult to break with the duo of Peter Trego and Lyndon James finding success with the visitors’ clear game plan of trying to run up their score with a view to claiming a win in Leicestershire.
With the forecast looking like a write-off for tomorrow, the Nottinghamshire coaching staff and captain have acted accordingly to push for the win with the lower order looking to go big more often than not.
The duo of Trego and James were battling hard as they put on a partnership of fifty from fifty balls which rocketed Nottinghamshire’s first innings total to 343 for eight during the extended the morning session.
However, as Trego (22) looked for his second maximum of the day off Griffiths, he clipped the leg side delivery to Alex Evans who was stood at third man to take the catch, end the partnership and bring the first session to an end.
Nottinghamshire declared on 343 for eight with Leicestershire beginning their second innings following the lunch break.
Hassan Azad and Sam Evans made their way to the crease to get the Running Foxes’ second innings underway with Nottinghamshire leading by 121 runs.
The opening partnership lasted just under half-an-hour before Azad (6) nicked Peter Trego’s delivery through to Tom Moores who took the diving catch.
Harry Dearden joined Evans at the crease and got off to a positive start by beautifully pulling Trego through the off side to get up and running.
The batsman then had the chance to hit the same bowler for multiple boundaries in the fifteenth over before Nottinghamshire captain Steven Mullaney pinned him lbw for 16 in the nineteenth over.
Leicestershire were 36 for two from 18.2 overs and were in a precarious position as captain Ackermann joined Evans at the crease.
The duo of Ackermann and Evans proceeded to take caution to the visitors bowling as they looked to get themselves in in what was a vital fourth wicket partnership.
They both batted patiently, picking the Nottinghamshire bowling attack off when they could and soon they brought up the Leicestershire fifty in the 25th over.
Tea came with Leicestershire on 59 for two.
The final session of the day got underway as Nottinghamshire still searched for the third Foxes wicket with both batsmen standing steadfast to the seam and spin attack of the visitors.
Evans’ and Ackermann’s resilience stood strong as the partnership saw the Running Foxes over the 100-run mark following back-to-back boundaries from Sam Evans off Mullaney.
Evans then posted another boundary in the following over, off the bowling of Zak Chappell as he neared his half-century.
Following the conclusion of Chappell’s over, the umpires took the players off the field of play for the first time day due to the return of the rain. Leicestershire sat on 110 for two, trailing by 11.
The delay didn’t last long though as the players were back on the field as quickly as they left to resume play.
The resilience of Evans (48) finally broke though, under the pressure of Nottinghamshire’s spin option of Patel as the ball popped up from the batsman and caught by Haseeb Hameed at short leg.
Leicestershire were now in the lead on 129 for three as the Running Foxes captain brought up his half-century off the very next ball. The fifty came from 117 balls including eight fours as he was joined George Rhodes at the crease.
The duo of Ackermann (58no) and Rhodes (4no) fought off everything that the Nottinghamshire attack threw at them as they finished day three on 143 for three.
Figures (1st inns) | Trego 22-9-46-3, Chappell 20-5-54-2, James 9-0-43-1, Barber 12-1-48-2, Patel 11.1-3-25-2
Taylor 29-5-94-2, A.Evans 17-2-73-1, Griffiths 20.5-4-64-2, Mike 20-6-48-3, Weighell 6-0-29-0, Ackermann 7-1-19-0
Figures (2nd inns) | Trego 12-3-34-1, Chappell 12-6-20-0, James 7-2-12-0, Mullaney 12-6-37-1, Barber 15-5-18-0, Patel 11-7-11-1
TEAM | Hassan Azad, Sam Evans, Harry Dearden, Colin Ackermann (c), George Rhodes, Harry Swindells (wk), Tom Taylor, Ben Mike, James Weighell, Gavin Griffiths.
Nottinghamshire CCC | Haseeb Hameed, Ben Slater, Ben Duckett, Joe Clarke, Steven Mullaney (c), Peter Trego, Tom Moors (wk), Samit Patel, Zak Chappell, Lyndon James, Tom Barber
IMAGES | Thanks to John Mallett of Outside Off for providing the images throughout the game.
