Cosgrove half-century in vain for Foxes
Sat 1 Sep 2018
RESULT | Day 4 of 4, Specsavers County Championship: Gloucestershire CCC 202 and 402-4 dec beat Leicestershire CCC 111 & 165 by 328 runs
SCORECARD | Available through ESPN Cricinfo
REACTION | Head Coach Paul Nixon spoke to BBC Radio Leicester’s Richard Rae at the end of the game
HIGHLIGHTS | In-play highlights are available throughout the 2018 season
POINTS | Gloucestershire CCC 20 points, Leicestershire CCC 3 points
REPORT | Mark Cosgrove completed a half-century but Leicestershire CCC suffered a 328-run defeat at the hands of Gloucestershire CCC in Bristol.
The Foxes had a good opening day of the contest, and also batted well for an hour at the start of day two and four, but the hosts seized control of the game between those points and never relinquished their grip.
County fought hard on the last day, but the odds were stacked against them with four second innings wickets remaining in the most bowler-friendly conditions of the game.
Gloucestershire CCC took the final four wickets for 48 runs in 26.1 overs as Ryan Higgins finished with career-best match figures of eight for 54 from 31 overs.
Leicestershire CCC Head Coach Paul Nixon said: "We are really frustrated and disappointed. The players are hurting.
"We let Gloucestershire get 40 runs too many in their first innings when the pitch seamed around and we probably didn't quite make their batsmen play enough.
"They scrambled to 200, which was a very competitive score. Fair play to their batsmen, their techniques were tested, and they played beautifully.
"Then they learned from the lengths and lines we bowled and put our batsmen under pressure. When you only score 111 in your first innings you are always going to be battling."
Leicestershire CCC resumed at 117 for six in their second innings on the final day. Cosgrove and Callum Parkinson battled against the swinging ball under heavy grey clouds.
Parkinson had to face a short-pitched attack from David Payne and Craig Miles in the early exchanges but came through the examination.
Parkinson’s reward was a tickle for four off the pads, while Cosgrove progressed to 50 from 115 balls with a sixth four, pulled handsomely through mid-on.
There was a double change as Higgins and Matt Taylor came on, and the duo changed the course of the morning session.
The left armer made the initial breakthrough after an hour’s play by trapping Parkinson (17) lbw with one that nipped back off the seam to beat a defensive stroke on the inside. It ended an alliance of 29 compiled in one ball shy of 17 overs.
Cosgrove was then unfortunate to get a tickle to a Higgins delivery that pitched and swung into his hip, leaving Leicestershire CCC at 145 for eight.
Gavin Griffiths (2) became a fourth victim of Higgins as James Bracey took a superb one-handed catch to his right at fourth slip.
There were a couple of excellent boundaries from Klein, who ended unbeaten on 17 as Ben Charlesworth came on to wrap up the victory by having Muhammad Abbas (1) caught behind with his first delivery.
Although leading wicket-taker Higgins will rightly take plaudits for his performance, he was well backed up by Payne, Miles and Matt Taylor, who all put the ball in good areas to back up the all-rounder.
Leicestershire CCC took three points from the game and therefore remain 30 points behind Sussex CCC, our next opponents, who currently occupy second place.
But Kent CCC could leapfrog their rivals if they can win at Derbyshire CCC this afternoon. At the time of writing, Derbyshire CCC had moved into the lead with four second innings wickets remaining.
TEAM | Horton (capt), Dearden, Ackermann, Cosgrove, Dexter, Eckersley (wk), Raine, Parkinson, Klein, Griffiths, Abbas.
FIGURES | 1st innings: Abbas 20.3-11-30-5, Raine 22-9-44-3, Klein 10-4-20-0, Griffiths 16-3-37-1, Parkinson 11-2-32-0, Dexter 5-2-16-0, Ackermann 3-0-3-1.
2nd innings: Abbas 16-7-19-0, Raine 16-5-53-0, Griffiths 10-2-30-0, Klein 13-0-103-0, Dexter 15-2-53-2, Ackermann 8.3-0-26-2, Parkinson 21-1-109-0.
PHOTO | Thanks to John Mallett for the photo of Mark Cosgrove batting today
* Leicestershire CCC’s next Specsavers County Championship home game is against leaders Warwickshire CCC on Monday, September 10 (10.30am start). Tickets cost £12 for adults and £2 for under 16s and are available for all four days HERE
