Derbyshire hit back on day three
Sat 6 Aug 2016
Leicestershire versus Derbyshire, Specsavers County Championship, Day 3:
SCORECARD | Available through ESPN Cricinfo HERE
INTERVIEW | An interview with Ben Raine by BBC Radio Leicester's Richard Rae is available HERE
HIGHLIGHTS | The highlights of the third day are available HERE
REPORT | Leicestershire faced a Derbyshire fightback on the third day of the Specsavers County Championship game at the Fischer County Ground.
Just as County did in their first innings, Derbyshire had contributions all the way down as they progressed their overnight 199-6 to 362 all out, including a last wicket stand of 79 between Tony Palladino and debutant Callum Parkinson.
That meant the Foxes held a first innings lead of only 18 despite Ben Raine returning season best figures of 5-66 and Derbyshire then reduced their hosts to 30-3 second time around.
Leicestershire's two leaders combined to good effect, Club Captain Mark Cosgrove posting 49 while white ball skipper Mark Pettini scored 32 as they shared 73 in 29.5 overs for the fourth wicket.
But both set batsmen fell just before the close as County ended at 109-5, therefore leading by 127 with five second innings wickets intact. They will, however, have experienced duo Niall O’Brien and Ned Eckersley at the crease when the final day gets underway.
The first two sessions firmly belonged to the visitors with Palladino (46) and Parkinson (48 not out) being a great source of frustration either side of a lunch interval that was extended by half an hour because of their partnership.
Derbyshire resumed their first innings with Alex Hughes and Alex Mellor on 40 and 16 respectively.
Opening the bowling for County, Charlie Shreck and Raine, both with two wickets already in the bag, continued to nip the ball around on a flat pitch under sunny skies.
Shreck looked to test Mellor with the short ball but the Derbyshire wicket-keeper, playing his maiden first-class innings, came through the examination.
The pair reached a 50-run partnership before Richard Jones was introduced and the paceman needed only seven deliveries to get the first breakthrough of the morning.
Like the first three Derbyshire batsmen, Hughes (48) had his off stump knocked out the ground thanks to a great delivery; the number seven falling two runs short of a half-century. Tom Milnes was the next man in for the visitors.
After a successful second over, nine runs came from his third, including four byes with a ball that appeared to defy the laws of motion. It looked to be swinging in as it passed the ducking Mellor, but then swung sharply to split O’Brien and Angus Robson at first slip. Milnes also pulled to the fence as part of an innings in which he would contribute 24 useful runs.
Raine returned with the new ball and struck with his second delivery as Mellor became the fifth batsman to lose his off pole, albeit via a thick inside edge. His 27, compiled off 99 deliveries, was a fine first innings at this level.
Palladino joined Milnes out in the middle and the pair put on 39 before Raine claimed his fourth scalp of the innings when the latter outside edged to O’Brien.
Derbyshire were still 91 in arrears when Parkinson came to the wicket but the Lancastrian, who has bowled with terrific control in this match, also demonstrated that he could bat.
There was a flurry of boundaries in the alliance, including five fours and a maximum for the No.11, although County did miss a chance to end the alliance with the score at 325 in the 101st over.
Palladino, who struck six fours in all, feathered a Paul Horton delivery that drifted across the batsman from around the wicket when on 34 but the chance just evaded the grasp of O’Brien.
The former Essex seamer would eventually depart in the same manner as Milnes, O’Brien taking a low catch as Raine claimed his fifth wicket.
As if to underline the value of the partnership, Derbyshire made quick inroads into the Leicestershire second innings. Robson (0) was yorked by Milnes and Horton (1) edged Palladino to second slip, leaving the team at 1-2 after eight balls.
Dexter struck a couple of his trademark cover drives and also flicked off his pads to the fence but he was the third batsman to depart before the tea interval. The number three was trapped lbw by another full ball from Milnes that struck the pad before the bat, umpire Rob Bailey making an excellent decision.
Cosgrove and Pettini took the Foxes into tea at 31-3, representing a lead of 49 at that point in proceedings.
Two statistics demonstrated the exemplary application of the batsmen; Cosgrove recorded his first boundary off the 55th ball faced courtesy of a crunching stroke over the top from Parkinson’s spin, and Pettini was content to defend or leave 23 deliveries before getting off the mark.
Their patience was rewarded as Pettini glanced away a brace of boundaries in the 28th over while two nicely timed drives yielded Cosgrove a total of seven runs in the 32nd.
The vital stand passed 50 as the skipper flicked Milnes away for a single before the lead stretched into three figures. Pettini then launched into one of his customary square drives to take the second innings total beyond 100.
Neither batsman had looked in any trouble so it was somewhat of a surprise when they both departed with the score at 103. A thick inside edge off Thakor cannoned into the stumps to end Cosgrove's stay while Pettini was trapped right in front by Parkinson, who again offered a threat while keeping the run rate down.
The slow left armer ended with 1-32 from 96 deliveries, taking his overall match haul to 5-126 from 49.4 overs.
Bowling figures for Leicestershire: McKay 22-6-48-2, Jones 13-1-61-1, Raine 24.1-3-66-5, Dexter 16-1-79-0, Shreck 28-8-68-2, Cosgrove 1-0-1-0, Horton 5-2-16-0.
* Thanks to Ed Melia for the photograph of Ben Raine today.
