Brave Foxes edged out in agonising fashion
Sat 23 Jun 2018
SCORE | Day 4 of 4, Specsavers County Championship: Leicestershire CCC 427 and 186 lost to Middlesex CCC 233 and 383 for 9 by 1 wicket
SCORECARD | Available through ESPN Cricinfo
HIGHLIGHTS | In-play highlights are available throughout the 2018 season
REACTION | Captain Paul Horton spoke to BBC Radio Leicester's Richard Rae at the end of the game
POINTS | Leicestershire CCC 7 points, Middlesex CCC 19 points
REPORT | Leicestershire CCC was edged out by Middlesex CCC by the narrowest of margins after a gripping final day of the hard-fought Specsavers County Championship contest at the Fischer County Ground.
Stevie Eskinazi, Hilton Cartwright and James Harris played the lead roles for the visitors, scoring 97, 80 and 58* respectively as they chased down their target of 381 for the loss of nine wickets with just 6.3 overs remaining.
The Foxes worked tirelessly to collect the seven required breakthroughs on the last day, with leading wicket-takers Gavin Griffiths and Ben Raine taking 3 for 81 and 3 for 89 respectively, but it was not to be.
Although Leicestershire CCC ultimately came out on the wrong side of the result, there was much to admire about a performance that went agonisingly close to recording a third successive Specsavers County Championship victory.
The start of the day - which seems an awful long time ago now - saw Middlesex CCC resume at 82 for 3, therefore needing a further 299 runs.
Unbeaten overnight batsmen Eskinazi and Patel came through a burst from Raine and Chappell with the nightwatchman growing in confidence.
A square driven boundary by Patel particularly caught the eye, and after Eskinazi went on to record his half-century from 113 balls (8x4), the stand reached 50.
The Foxes needed a breakthrough and Muhammad Abbas provided it, an outside edge of Patel (20) finding its way through to ‘keeper Lewis Hill after the nightwatchman had batted for exactly an hour on the final morning.
Abbas went perilously close to making it two wickets in as many overs when Paul Stirling also nicked, the ball somehow going between Hill and Paul Horton at first slip.
It was to be Griffiths who claimed the next wicket as another Stirling (4) snick was safely grabbed by a diving Hill.
Griffiths thought he had another caught behind victim when Cartwright pushed forward before he had scored but replays showed that the ball hit the off stump without removing the bails en route to Hill.
Eskinazi battled his way through to lunch alongside Cartwright with Middlesex progressing to 169 for 5 at that stage in proceedings.
Both batsmen sent strokes to the off-side boundary off Abbas, and Callum Parkinson was introduced for his first bowl.
The No.3 batsman lost his wicket in the left arm spinner’s second over three runs short of what would have been a deserved hundred.
Cartwright chipped towards short cover, the ball dipped late, Raine managed to gather it at the second attempt, and the fielder threw down the stumps at the striker’s end as the batsmen attempted a single.
After sharing 48 with Eskinazi, Cartwright formed another stubborn alliance with John Simpson either side of the new ball. It passed 50 when an edge from Simpson flashed narrowly over the cordon, and Cartwright then reached 50 from 124 deliveries with his seventh four.
The equation was interesting at tea with Leicestershire CCC needing four wickets and Middlesex CCC requiring 105 runs in a minimum of 33 overs.
That target came down to 97 when Griffiths produced a pinpoint yorker from around the wicket to trap Simpson (39) leg before, ending the 87-run partnership.
Cartwright and Harris chipped away at the deficit and were quick to latch on to anything that offered even a hint of width in adding 59 for the eighth wicket.
Raine created a couple of chances off edges but they didn’t quite go to hand, but the all-rounder was not to be denied, pinning Cartwright (80) in front with the visitors still requiring 38 runs.
There was another twist as Harris collected 19 runs in the space of two overs to halve the deficit, and the all-rounder took the target down to seven with Steven Finn, recording a 83-ball 50 (9x4) in the process.
But Abbas had Finn (9) caught down the leg-side to set up the tensest of finales, and after five singles were taken, Harris hit the winning boundary as part of a last-wicket stand with Tim Murtagh, who ended on 3 not out.
TEAM | Dearden, Horton (capt), Ackermann, Cosgrove, Dexter, Hill (wk), Raine, Chappell, Parkinson, Griffiths, Abbas.
FIGURES | 1st innings: Raine 17.2-4-53-3, Abbas 13-4-29-1, Griffiths 15-2-63-2, Chappell 14-0-65-4, Dexter 5-0-17-0.
2nd innings: Raine 34-7-89-3, Abbas 31.3-5-99-2, Chappell 16-4-50-0, Griffiths 25-4-81-3, Dexter 4-0-24-0, Parkinson 7-2-19-0.
PHOTO | Thanks to Ed Melia for the photo of today’s action.
* Tickets for our first Vitality Blast home game against Durham Jets on Friday, July 6 cost just £10 for adults and £5 for under 16s in advance of the fixture. Secure your seat at the Fischer County Ground today HERE
