Magnificent Abbas leads County to victory
Wed 19 Sep 2018
RESULT | Day 2 of 4, Specsavers County Championship: Leicestershire CCC 321 beat Durham CCC 61 & 66 (f/o) by an innings and 194 runs
SCORECARD | Available through ESPN Cricinfo
REACTION | Muhammad Abbas spoke to BBC Radio Leicester’s Richard Rae after the win
HIGHLIGHTS | In-play highlights are available throughout the 2018 season
POINTS | Leicestershire CCC 22 points, Durham CCC 3 points
REPORT | Muhammad Abbas was in phenomenal form as Leicestershire CCC secured an outstanding innings victory on day two of the Specsavers County Championship game against Durham CCC.
The Pakistan international initially took five for 23 from eight overs to help bowl the visitors out for just 61 in reply to County’s 321.
Abbas again got to work after the Foxes enforced the follow-on, claiming a second consecutive five-wicket haul to take his competition tally to 50 at just 17.72 apiece.
The overseas star ended with tremendous match figures of 10 for 52 and was superbly backed up by Neil Dexter, Gavin Griffiths and Ben Mike, who claimed the other ten wickets to fall.
Durham CCC scored 66 in their second innings, so had posted their two lowest first-class scores on what was an extraordinary final day of cricket in the 2018 season at the Fischer County Ground.
Leicestershire CCC’s fifth win of the season put the team back into fourth place, although the three other games in the division are still in play.
In a dramatic opening session that set the tone for the day, the batsmen on both sides added 42 runs for the collective loss of nine wickets in 22.5 overs.
It seems a long time ago now that Leicestershire CCC resumed at 316 for eight. County lost their final two wickets in the second over of the morning.
Griffiths played well for 23 but was bowled by Matt Salisbury, who then trapped Abbas (0) lbw to leave Lewis Hill on 43 not out.
Abbas then gave the Foxes the perfect start by bowling Cameron Steel without scoring. The opening batsman scored a double-century in the fixture last season, so it was a key blow to strike.
Bowling in tandem with Dexter, who conceded only one run in seven probing overs running into a howling gale, Abbas produced one of the deadliest spells seen in many a year at the Fischer County Ground.
The seamer had a real purple patch to build on the breakthrough of Steel, striking four times in the space of seven deliveries to burst the game wide open for the Foxes.
With the fourth ball of his fifth over, Abbas enticed Gareth Harte (5) to edge to Dexter at third slip, and the seamer then trapped Graham Clark (4) leg before with the first ball of his next offering.
A dot ball followed before Abbas put himself on a hat-trick - Michael Richardson (0) played on before captain Paul Collingwood (0) nicked to Colin Ackermann at second slip.
There was a good battle between Abbas and Lees including a big appeal for caught behind in the 13th over. The ball swung massively and had, in fact, beat the outside edge.
Opening batsman Lees lost another partner when Stuart Poynter (0) struck the nagging Dexter to point. The all-rounder backed up his colleague superbly well to revel in an unfamiliar role.
Abbas nearly made it six when Mark Wood nicked towards Ackermann, but a sharp chance burst through the skipper’s hands, forcing him to leave the field for a short period.
He ended his spell to huge applause, and Mike was soon in on the act, clipping the off stump of Wood (5) with an absolute beauty of an away-swinger to leave Durham CCC at 30 for seven.
Lees barely saw any of the strike for a while as Barry McCarthy picked up a single off the last ball of three consecutive overs. The duo guided their team through to lunch, but they were in strife at 37 for seven – and wickets continued to fall after the interval.
The opener was dismissed for an innings high of 16 when clipping Griffiths to Harry Dearden at square-leg before Mike claimed his second wicket as Salisbury (2) nicked through to ‘keeper Lewis Hill. Griffiths wrapped up the innings when McCarthy (14) edged to Hill.
Leicestershire CCC enforced the follow-on and Abbas was soon in on the action again, knocking Steel’s off stump out with one that seamed back sharply.
After surviving one leg before appeal from Dexter, Lees (10) was then trapped in front by the all-rounder as one of three wickets to fall with the score at 20.
Dexter struck again before the over was out, Graham Clark (0) held brilliantly by a diving Ateeq Javid in the gully, before Abbas had Harte (5) caught behind to leave Durham CCC still trailing by 240 runs.
Richardson (8) was then bowled by Abbas before Poynter (4) clipped Dexter to Sam Evans at mid-wicket to put the score at 34 for six.
It became 38 for seven as Abbas brought another ball back to bowl Collingwood (5), the all-rounder receiving a standing ovation when leaving the Fischer County Ground outfield for the final time.
Twelve more runs had been added when Mike found the edge of McCarthy (1) in his first over, and Griffiths then knocked back the off stump of Salisbury (5).
In an ending befitting of the day, Abbas returned to claim his 50th of the wicket, bowling Rushworth (7) as the Foxes pocketed 22 points.
TEAM | Javid, Evans, Ackermann (capt), Cosgrove, Dearden, Dexter, Hill (wk), Mike, Parkinson, Griffiths, Abbas.
FIGURES | 1st innings: Abbas 8-2-23-5, Dexter 7-6-1-1, Griffiths 7-3-10-2, Mike 6-0-18-2.
2nd innings: Abbas 10.3-4-29-4, Dexter 7-3-17-3, Griffiths 5-2-11-1, Mike 2-0-8-1.
PHOTO | Thanks to John Mallett for the photo of Muhammad Abbas celebrating a wicket today.
* Thank you for your support at the Fischer County Ground this season. Leicestershire CCC’s final Specsavers County Championship game is against Glamorgan CCC on Monday. Follow the latest from the game on our social media channels @leicsccc
