Rain-hit match ends as draw
Wed 11 May 2016
Leicestershire versus Northamptonshire, Specsavers County Championship, Day 4:
SCORECARD | Available through ESPN Cricinfo HERE
INTERVIEW | An interview with Mark Cosgrove by BBC Radio Leicester's Richard Rae is available HERE
HIGHLIGHTS | The highlights of the final day’s play are available HERE
REPORT | There was more disappointment at the Fischer County Ground as most of the final day of the Specsavers County Championship game between Leicestershire and Northants was lost to poor conditions, meaning the game ended as a draw.
Following Tuesday’s washout, there was further heavy rain this morning and following an inspection by umpires Peter Hartley and Paul Baldwin, lunch was taken at 12.15pm.
Conditions did not improve sufficiently until late in the afternoon with play finally getting underway at 4.30pm, at which point 72 overs had been wiped off.
Leicestershire had no choice but to declare their second innings on 132-6 so Northants needed an academic 314 from 24 overs and County required ten wickets.
A breakthrough was made with the third ball of the day, Ben Duckett (0) dragging a Clint McKay delivery into leg stump.
Opener Jake Libby (14*) and Alex Wakely (16*) steadied the Northants ship, progressing the score to 30-1 after seven overs when bad light stopped play at 5pm. The one boundary arrived in the 6th over when Wakely edged an attempted pull off Ben Raine over the head of ‘keeper Niall O’Brien.
The captains shook hands shortly after the players left the field, Leicestershire taking 11 points and Northants collecting eight from a fixture that was virtually halved due to the elements.
Although it was disappointing that Leicestershire did not get the chance to press home their advantage, the team remains unbeaten in second place with 59 points gathered from the first four matches.
County’s next game is against Sri Lanka on Friday and the following Specsavers County Championship challenge is versus Worcestershire on Sunday, May 22.
There’s a fantastic offer for families for the Sri Lanka fixture as a pass for the entire match costs just £30! That means that two adults and three children under 16 can come into the FCG each day for just £2 each. To take advantage of the deal, please call 0116 283 2128.
