Cosgrove posts 11th Foxes hundred

Leicestershire versus Sussex, Specsavers County Championship, Day 1:

SCORECARD | Available through ESPN Cricinfo HERE 

INTERVIEW | Mark Cosgrove spoke to BBC Radio Leicester's Richard Rae at stumps, the interview is available HERE

HIGHLIGHTS | The highlights of the first day are available HERE

REPORT | Mark Cosgrove celebrated the signing of a contract extension with his 11th century for the club as Leicestershire posted a healthy 322-7 on the first day against Sussex at the Fischer County Ground.

Leicestershire’s captain shared 119 for the third wicket with Paul Horton (71, 180b, 9x4) as part of another authoritative knock but County were kept honest by the outstanding Jofra Archer, who took 5-61 from 25 overs.

Cosgrove, who started the day needing 97 to take his Leicestershire first-class career tally to 3,000, ended the day on 122*, his second Specsavers County Championship hundred in as many matches.

The skipper was Leicestershire’s leading scorer in the competition in his first two seasons at the club and is again leading the way in 2017 with his current tally of 516 coming at an impressive average of 73.71.

He received excellent support towards stumps from Zak Chappell, who scored 40 of the unbroken 51 runs added in 10.2 overs for the eighth wicket.

Leicestershire made two changes to the side that drew at Derbyshire as all-rounders Ben Raine and Tom Wells came in for Lewis Hill and Rob Sayer. Sussex selected their spinner, slow left armer Danny Briggs, in place of the injured Steve Magoffin but still had plenty of seam options at their disposal.

The toss was uncontested but Sussex did not profit in the 17 overs that were possible in a morning session that suffered a number of delays because of the weather. 

Horton and Harry Dearden made solid progress despite having their concentration tested by accurate seam bowling and the interruptions. County’s openers guided the score to 37 without loss with the right-hander’s unbeaten 23 including two well-timed off drives that found the ropes.

The going continued to be tough for the batsmen in the opening exchanges of the afternoon session. In addition to keeping the ball in good areas, Archer managed to extract bounce from the Bennett End, a trait that, combined with decent pace, helped him to land the first two wickets of the day.

Neither Dearden (8) nor Colin Ackermann (13) were at fault for their respective dismissals. Both tried to play with soft hands but the left-hander edged to Chris Jordan at first slip and the number three saw another brutish delivery balloon off the shoulder of the bat to Stiaan van Zyl at point. 

Sussex now had their tails up with Archer’s terrific 8-over spell yielding a return of 2-11. Leicestershire greatly benefitted from the experience of Horton and Cosgrove, who soaked up the pressure before launching a counter-attack once Archer came out of the attack as they shared 95 in 27.2 overs before tea.

After being restricted to six fours in the first 33.5 overs, County’s boundary count moved to 17 by the end of the 50th over. Captain Cosgrove collected eight of those fours, including a brace of cuts when Jordan dropped short and a super drive though extra off Stiaan van Zyl, a contender for shot of the day.

Between Cosgrove’s flurry, opener Horton sent van Zyl’s medium pace through the off-side on three occasions to double his boundary tally in the 42nd over. The opener moved to a second successive competition half-century, compiled from 127 balls, in the next offering.

The left-hander posted his own fifty from 70 deliveries in the 51st over before a ninth boundary arrived when Cosgrove drove Briggs behind square on the off-side. Leicestershire went to tea at 154-2 after 54 overs, with the skipper now within one of Horton’s 57*.

Horton hit Philander for a straight four in the first over of the final session, and after Cosgrove took the stand into three figures with a two off Briggs, the left-hander overtook his partner with a delightful extra cover drive for four as the spinner overpitched slightly. 

Things were looking highly promising at the stage but Archer continued to be a thorn in Leicestershire’s side, playing a role in three wickets to fall for the addition of 34 runs. 

The seamer broke the partnership as Horton played on after the ball seamed back sharply, caught Ned Eckersley (14) at mid-on after the batsman attempted to loft Briggs for his fourth boundary, and trapped Mark Pettini (3) lbw. 

Leicestershire were now at 212-5 but Cosgrove continued to accumulate while Wells was a good foil, picking off scoring opportunities as they arose.

Cosgrove struck two tremendous drives past the fielder at mid-on to take his boundary tally to 14 before a back foot drive for two took him through to a hundred from 144 balls. Leicestershire now had a second batting point tucked away, and Wells then struck Briggs over the top to record the 50 partnership.

But to continue the theme of the day, just when progress was going steadily, Archer returned to put a spanner in the works. The seamer struck with the new ball, pinning Wells (16) in front to complete a five-wicket haul, and Philander built on that success by enticing Raine (0) to edge to ‘keeper Michael Burgess.

Chappell helped his captain record a third batting point before the close, finding the boundary on seven occasions. The young all-rounder played strokes all around the wicket to take the pressure of Cosgrove, who had recorded 16 fours in a 165-ball stay by stumps.

TEAM | Horton, Dearden, Ackermann, Cosgrove (capt), Eckersley (wk), Pettini, Wells, Raine, Chappell, McKay, Klein.

* Thanks to Ed Melia for the photograph of Mark Cosgrove celebrating his century.