Rain disrupts run-chase on final day
Tue 18 Aug 2020
DAY FOUR | Leicestershire CCC forfeit & 208 for three v Durham CCC 291 for 8d.& forfeit.
POINTS | Leicestershire 8, Durham 8
SCORECARD | Available from Cricinfo HERE.
REPORT | Sam Evans spearheaded the Leicestershire response with his maiden half-century for the Foxes after Durham declared on 291 for eight.
The captains took the decision to forfeit an innings each in order to restore some competitive edge into the final day at the Fischer County Ground.
Leicestershire wanted a total of 292 to claim the victory – however, having threatened on days one, two and three, the rain would finally bring the game to an end.
The final day at the Fischer County Ground began in extraordinary fashion following the conclusion of Will Davis’ over after rain curtailed play yesterday.
Two Foxes we are used to seeing open the batting together, Sam Evans and Hassan Azad now found themselves showcasing their bowling skills.
Prior to the first ball of the day, captains Colin Ackermann and Ned Eckersley and umpires Nick Cook and Neil Mallender were in deep discussion which concluded in a Durham agreeing to end their first innings on 291.
This was then followed by both teams forfeiting their next innings’ leaving Leicestershire with a run chase of 292 with 82 overs remaining in the day.
Evans and Azad were placed into the attack simply to let Durham bat their way to their agreed total, which was supposed to go ahead without any problems.
However, after Azad threw one up for Brydon Carse who could only chop the delivery on to his stumps, confusion and possibly and air of embarrassment descended on to the field of play, and with it Carse (17) made his way back to the away designated area of the ground and former-Fox Ben Raine emerged.
Play then panned out as expected for the remaining runs to be scored which saw Eckersley finish on 22no and Raine finish on 18no with Durham declaring on 291 for eight after 89.1 overs.
Azad and Evans soon emerged once again to open the batting for the Foxes and get their response underway.
The duo eased into the innings and looked to have found their feet as they both earned boundaries off the Durham attack.
Ten overs had passed as the duo were patiently building their innings as the Running Foxes sat on 26 without loss.
The first wicket soon followed, though, as Brydon Carse exacted revenge on Azad after losing his wicket to him earlier today.
Carse’s delivery swung back into the batsman and sent his leg stump flying for 19. Durham had landed their first blow on Leicestershire as the Running Foxes were now 34 for one.
Harry Dearden came out to join Evans at the crease and showed glimpses of increasing the run-rate, which had slowly crept up since the beginning of the innings.
The duo saw the Running Foxes through to lunch having chiselled 60 runs off the total set by Durham, at the expense of one wicket.
Dearden commenced the batting for Leicestershire after the lunch break and ended the over with his third boundary of the day, as he looked to push on from the foundations set in the morning.
His wicket fell soon after, though, as his former Leicestershire teammate Ben Raine pinned him lbw for 23, and Leicestershire would once again look to their captain as Colin Ackermann made his way to the crease.
The partnership of Evans and Ackermann seemed to have the answers to every question that Durham were asking of them as they patiently chipped away at their target.
The 50-run partnership was brought up after 109 balls with Evans posting 24 of them and Ackermann 27.
Soon, a maiden first-class half-century for Leicestershire was up for Sam Evans as he has led the Foxes’ charge. The fifty came in 134 balls including four fours in a tenacious innings from the youngster.
Evans soon found his groove as he posted 14 runs from his next six balls, including three fours.
The partnership stood strong as tea came with Leicestershire needing 150 runs from 31 overs with eight wickets in hand.
The 100-run partnership milestone soon came round from 178 balls, which led to Colin Ackermann’s half-century of the innings, coming from 93 balls including seven fours.
The run-rate had noticeably crept up with the Running Foxes earning one boundary an over at least, as the deficit began to creep closer to just 100 runs.
Back-to-back boundaries from Ackermann then saw the deficit dip below 100 with 22 overs left.
However, the 127-run third wicket partnership came to end after Evans (85) lofted Steel’s full toss straight to Alex Lees at mid-on who took the catch.
Leicestershire’s deficit was below 100 as George Rhodes joined Ackermann at the crease.
The duo did not spend long at the crease with each other before the rain brought play to a halt, not for the first time across the four days.
The downpour lasted fifteen minutes before finally relenting and letting the ground staff back onto the field of play to try and get play back underway.
Yet, despite their immense efforts, coupled with help from the Foxes coaching staff, the umpires and the captains took the decision to shake hands and call it a draw due to the amount of time lost.
Figures (1st inns) | Taylor 21-7-49-2, Klein 15-0-57-1, Griffiths 23-6-52-3, Davis 10-2-31-1, Parkinson 10-2-31-0, Ackermann 5-1-17-0, Evans 3-0-22-0, Azad 2.1-0-15-1.
Raine 16.5-3-46-1, Salisbury 12-2-49-0, Coughlin 15-0-52-0, Carse 12-2-34-1, Harte 6-1-15-0, Steel 2-0-8-1
TEAM | Hassan Azad, Sam Evans, Harry Dearden, Colin Ackermann (c), George Rhodes, Harry Swindells (wk), Tom Taylor, Callum Parkinson, Dieter Klein, Will Davis, Gavin Griffiths.
Durham CCC | Alex Lees, Sean Dickson, Cameron Steel, David Bedingham, Gareth Harte, Jack Burnham, Ned Eckersley (c & wk), Paul Coughlin, Brydon Carse, Ben Raine, Matthew Salisbury.
IMAGES | Thanks to John Mallett of Outside Off for providing the images throughout the game.
