Foxes take day one honours at Derbyshire

SCORE | Day 1 of 4, Specsavers County Championship: Derbyshire CCC 245 v Leicestershire CCC 82 for 0

SCORECARD | Available through ESPN Cricinfo

REACTION | Callum Parkinson spoke to BBC Radio Leicester’s Richard Rae at stumps

HIGHLIGHTS | In-play highlights are available throughout the 2018 season

REPORT | Leicestershire CCC performed well with leather and willow to take the first day honours of the pink-ball Specsavers County Championship match at Derbyshire CCC.

The Foxes’ indefatigable attack shared success around in dismissing their hosts for 245 with spinner Callum Parkinson taking 3 for 50 and the five seamers sharing the other seven wickets.

Wickets were taken in clusters either side of both intervals, with three falling in the space of 13 deliveries around lunch and four going in 18 balls around tea. Wayne Madsen (80) top-scored for the home side.

County made a solid start to the reply, moving to 82 without loss with Paul Horton unbeaten on 48, Harry Dearden battling for 9 before having to retire hurt, and Colin Ackermann 14 not out.

Leicestershire CCC showed one change to the side that lost in agonising fashion to Middlesex CCC on Saturday with Richard Jones coming in for his first Specsavers County Championship appearance of the season for injured all-rounder Zak Chappell.

The home side, meanwhile, welcomed back ‘keeper Daryn Smit and pace bowler Hardus Viljoen into their XI at the 3aaa County Ground.

Captain Horton opted against a coin toss so new ball duo Ben Raine and Muhammad Abbas were straight into the action, bowling prolonged spells when the game started at 1.30pm.

The pink ball moved around considerably in the opening exchanges but openers Slater and Harvey Hosein dug in to share a 50-run partnership in the first session.

Abbas ended it when kissing the edge of Hosein (19) with a good delivery, Lewis Hill completing the dismissal behind the stumps.

The left-handed Slater shared another useful alliance with Madsen that looked set to take Derbyshire CCC into the first interval.

Slater manoeuvred the ball on both sides of the wicket in moving to the cusp of 50, striking eight fours that came either by working the ball through the on-side or driving through the covers.

Horton rotated his bowlers throughout the session; Jones and Griffiths were introduced as first change, while Parkinson and Neil Dexter operated in tandem as the session wore on.

And the switch to slow left arm paid dividends as Parkinson struck three times in the space of seven deliveries he sent down either side of lunch by rapping Slater, Alex Hughes and Billy Godleman on the pads.

The dismissals were different in nature; the opener attempted to sweep what proved to be the last ball of the session, Hughes (0) pushed forward to the first ball after the break, while Godleman (0) offered no stroke to a ball that spun back into the left-hander in Parkinson’s next over.

Derbyshire CCC needed a period of consolidation and got it through Madsen and Critchley, who also scored at a decent pace while staving off the visiting attack.

Successive boundaries for Madsen off Raine recorded a brace of fifties; his personal 84-ball half-century (6x4) and the alliance landmark with Critchley.

Dexter had not long replaced Parkinson from the Pavilion End when a bit of away movement accounted for Critchley (31), who nicked to Hill to end the stand at 52.

The County bowlers were doing everything they could to ensure the Derbyshire CCC batsmen did not settle, and the sixth wicket fell 29 runs later as Jones trapped Smit (12) in front.

Viljoen was positive as soon as he came to the crease and hit Parkinson for consecutive maximums. He scored 29, helping Madsen to add 48 for the seventh wicket, before Griffiths found his outside edge with a superb delivery and Hill took a simple catch just before tea.

The hosts were 232 for 7 with Madsen unbeaten on 79 but, just like session one, wickets tumbled after the stoppage with Raine pinning both Madsen and Duanne Olivier (0) in front and Abbas bowling Ravi Rampaul (0).

Horton and Dearden made a superb start with the skipper playing a stroke through mid-on and cutting three more fours to third man as the score raced to 34 without loss after eight overs.

The stand passed 50 as Horton cut to the ropes before Dearden retired hurt on 9, bringing Ackermann to the wicket.

The omens were good for the No.3 batsman, who posted a century at the venue last season as well as another in the day-night fixture at Northants, and was coming into the game having scored 599 Specsavers County Championship runs at an average in the mid-seventies.

Ackermann played two glorious off drives, while Horton produced a similar stroke as well as fending a fearsome Olivier delivery over the cordon to record his seventh boundary, as Leicestershire CCC reduced the deficit to 163 by stumps.

TEAM | Horton (capt), Dearden, Ackermann, Cosgrove, Dexter, Hill (wk), Raine, Parkinson, Jones, Griffiths, Abbas.

FIGURES | Raine 13-3-52-2, Abbas 14-4-47-2, Jones 11-0-39-1, Griffiths 8-1-29-1, Parkinson 11-1-50-3, Dexter 9-2-20-1.

PHOTO | Thanks to John Mallett for the photo of Callum Parkinson bowling.