Evans leads Running Foxes on impressive first day

DAY ONE | Leicestershire CCC 264 for four

SCORECARD | Available HERE

REPORT | Sam Evans posted his second Championship century for Leicestershire in a fixture which saw Marcus Harris post his first fifty for the Running Foxes as well as his 7,000th first-class run.

Lewis Hill chipped in with his fifth fifty in six innings as Leicestershire controlled day one from the crease.

The Running Foxes travelled to Bristol to get their fourth LV= County Championship fixture of the 2021 campaign underway against a Gloucestershire CCC side riding high in Group Two.

It was all change for Leicestershire with three changes made to the team with Colin Ackermann, Harry Dearden and Gavin Griffiths making way for Sam Evans, Rishi Patel and Alex Evans.

In Ackermann’s absence, Callum Parkinson took up the mantle of captaincy for Leicestershire for the first time.

The hosts won the toss and put County into bat, which paid off immediately as Dan Worrall pinned Hassan Azad infront from the second delivery of the day.

Marcus Harris emerged to replace Azad (0) and joined Sam Evans in the middle as the Running Foxes looked to rebuild and quell any momentum the hosts may look to build following the early breakthrough.

The duo started off well and were relatively unfazed for the rest of the first session of the day, and began to pick up boundaries regularly.

The partnership’s fifty came up from 111 balls with Evans leading the way on 24* and Harris on 20*.

The duo then went into the lunch interval having more than rescued the Running Foxes from a potentially early demise as Harris (49*) and Evans (37*) took lunch with Leicestershire on 92 for one.

The afternoon session was delayed, though, as the rain began to fall in Bristol. The delay lasted 29 minutes, although Harris wasted no time in bringing up his first half-century in the colours of Leicestershire.

The Australian only needed a single, and only took that single as he pusedh Josh Shaw into the leg side to bring up the fifty from the third ball of the session. The fifty came from 104 balls and included seven fours.

Moments after Harris brought up his half-century, he then brought up County’s and the second wicket partnership’s century as he carved Shaw away over the slips for his eighth boundary of the day.

Six overs after Harris posted his half-century for the Running Foxes, he was joined in doing so by Sam Evans as he nicked Shaw away through the slips, rather fortuitously, to bring up the milestone. The fifty was brought up from 126 balls and included seven fours.

The milestone’s kept coming for Leicestershire, as Harris’ 62nd run saw him bring up his 7,000th first-class run, as he turned Shaw away for a quick single.

The partnership was broken during the second session though, with Worrall claiming his second wicket of the game.

Harris (62) was the man to be dismissed as he feathered the delivery through to Bracey who pouched the catch.

One quickly became two in the session for Worrall, as he also claimed the wicket of Harris’ replacement, Rishi Patel.

Patel lasted eight minutes at the crease before he shouldered-arms on a delivery that angled back in and clattered his off stump. Patel went for two as Lewis Hill joined Evans (57*) in the middle with the Running Foxes on 129 for three.

Hill and Evans went about their business steadily, as to not make any mistakes and lose any further County wickets in the afternoon session.

The new man in the middle scored the majority of the runs for the remainder of the session, hitting Tom Smith for the games fist maximum, as well multiple boundary overs as the delayed tea break approached.

The duo then went into tea with Evans (65*), Hill (27*) and Leicestershire 168 for three.

The third session commenced with at least 15 overs remaining before Gloucestershire have the option of taking the new ball.

The fact that the new ball was looming had the duo at the crease making the most of the old ball, by increasing the run rate as much as possible.

Patient, controlled play in the middle saw Hill bring up his fifth half-century of the season, with the fifty coming from 91 balls, including five fours and a solitary six.

By the time the new ball arrived, the Running Foxes were on 221 for three, as Hill took Dom Goodman for 13 runs from the last over of the old ball.

A couple of boundaries in quick succession for Evans accelerated him into the low-nineties as he had his sights set on a second Championship century for the Running Foxes.

He then made no mistake in claiming the milestone, as a quick two following his thirteenth boundary of the game saw Evans bring up the ton from 251 balls, including thirteen fours.

This was the second time the duo of Evans and Hill saw in a century at the crease together, the last time being Evans’ maiden Championship ton for Leicestershire at the Oval.

Evans made it as far as 102 though, as he clipped Worrall’s delivery straight to Lace at short square leg and the 120-run fourth wicket stand came to an end.

Evans made his way back to the pavilion as Harry Swindells emerged to join Hill (65*) in the middle.

The duo then navigated the remaining the six overs of the day to guide the Running Foxes through to day two in a comfortable position. However, there was still time for Lewis Hill to post his season-best score, eclipsing the previous best for 2021 of 70 posted against Surrey.

The first day of round four of the 2021 LV= County Championship camapign at the Bristol County Ground came to an end with Leicestershire on 264 for four. 

FIGURES (1st inns) | Worrall 24-6-54-4, Higgins 21-6-42-0, Goodman 18-4-49-0, Shaw 17-3-60-0, Smith 16-1-50-0

TEAM | Hassan Azad, Sam Evans, Marcus Harris, Rishi Patel, Lewis Hill, Harry Swindells (wk), Ben Mike, Callum Parkinson (C), Chris Wright, Dieter Klein, Alex Evans

GLOUCESTERSHIRE CCC | Chris Dent (C), Kraigg Brathwaite, James Bracey (wk), Tom Lace, Ian Cockbain, Ryan Higgins, George Hankins, Tom Smith, Dan Worrall, Josh Shaw, Dom Goodman

IMAGES | Thanks to John Mallett of Outside Off for providing the images throughout the game.