Cosgrove shines on debut
Tue 7 Apr 2015
Club Captain Mark Cosgrove led the way and Jigar Naik and Ben Raine made good contributions as Leicestershire showed plenty of character against Cambridge MCCU.
Having been invited to bat first, Leicestershire were 22-3 and 129-6 at various points at Fenner's but reacted in a positive manner to post 303, Cosgrove making 92 off just 90 balls.
Naik (73) put on 88 for the eighth wicket with Raine (44) after Cosgrove was dismissed and Leicestershire then reduced Cambridge MCCU to 64-4 at stumps. Raine claimed two wickets after opening the bowling.
Zain Shahzad (17-4-49-3) earlier came to the fore for the students, who also made inroads with the new ball after winning the toss.
Leicestershire lost a wicket without a run on the board as Dan Redfern (0) edged a good ball from Shahzad and Ben Wylie took a smart catch at third slip.
The ball continued to move about early on and Shahzad's new ball partner Alasdair Pollock bowled both Ned Eckersley (1) and Angus Robson (14) to leave County struggling.
Cosgrove played superbly to lead a recovery at a ground that enjoyed pleasant sunshine throughout the day. A total of 76 of the skipper's runs came in boundaries as he took the attack to the bowlers.
Cosgrove started as he meant to go on, opening his Leicestershire account with a rasping on-drive to the ropes. He formed a vital alliance with fellow Leicestershire first-class debutant Neil Pinner, who continued his good form.
The duo shared 78 to take the score into three figures before Ruari Crichard produced a full delivery and trapped Pinner (32) in front. Cosgrove progressed to a 49-ball half-century that included ten fours, most of which punctured the off-side field.
The captain continued to dominate and took four boundaries off Crichard in his next over. Niall O'Brien (7) played a super cover drive to the fence but was then caught in the same region next ball off Adil Arif to leave County on 127-5.
Tom Wells (1) was bowled by Shahzad as Leicestershire lost a sixth wicket before two consecutive boundaries in the lunch over from Cosgrove demonstrated his class. One raced through extra before anybody blinked, and the next was a subtle touch that evaded a diving fielder at third man.
Leicestershire went in on 145-6 with Cosgrove on 81 and the left-hander was in touching distance of a century when his innings was cruelly cut short. Cosgrove shaped up to send another ball to the off-side boundary - but on this occasion a Shahzad delivery clattered into the wicket off an inside edge.
Naik joined Raine to form the biggest stand of the innings, which was formed via a combination of solid defence and neat strokeplay. Raine hit one clean maximum as he made a well-constructed 44 off 82 balls before being superbly caught and bowled by slow left armer Wylie.
Off-spinner Naik posted 50 from the 75th ball faced with his seventh four, and the innings also included a six that came courtesy of two runs and four overthrows. Naik found another willing ally in Ollie Freckingham (15) as the duo put on 49 for the ninth wicket.
Spinner Alex Blofield then wrapped up the innings by dismissing Freckingham, caught at mid-on, and Naik, who was held after miscuing an attempted sweep.
That left Atif Sheikh not out and he immediately made an impact with the ball. James Abbott (2) was hurried by a short ball and the ball looped up to O'Brien behind the stumps. Raine then trapped Andrew Wright lbw as Cambridge slipped to 5-2.
Raine claimed his second wicket when Philip Hughes edged to Pinner at second slip and a fourth wicket fell before the close as Joe Tetley (21) was lbw to Wells. Harry Ellison (22*) and Blofield (1*) were the not out batsmen at stumps.
Bowling figures: Sheikh 6-1-16-1, Raine 6-2-12-2, Freckingham 5-0-19-0, Wells 4-2-15-1.
Leicestershire: Redfern, Robson, Eckersley, Cosgrove, Pinner, O'Brien, Wells, Raine, Naik, Freckingham, Sheikh.
