Shreck and Wells claim three apiece
Sun 17 May 2015
The Red Rose county’s stand-in skipper Steve Croft was again a thorn in Leicestershire’s side as Lancashire made the most of some reprieves to make 356-9 on the first day at Grace Road.
Croft, who hit the winning runs in scoring 70 not out in the NatWest T20 Blast thriller at Emirates Old Trafford on Friday, ended the day on 98 not out after his side had been asked to bat in the LV=CC game.
Ben Raine, who was terrific in returning figures of 19-5-38-0, saw three opportunities go begging at first slip in the first session, including Ashwell Prince twice in the space of three deliveries.
Lancashire took advantage by moving to 156-2 but lost three wickets on that score as Tom Wells (15-1-68-3) and Charlie Shreck (25.4-8-92-3) struck, including set duo Paul Horton (70) and Prince.
Croft then shared stands worth 73 and 77 with Jordan Clark (44) and Nathan Buck (25) for the sixth and eighth wicket respectively as the visitors regrouped.
Leicestershire made one change to the side that lost narrowly at Surrey as Wells came in for Jigar Naik while Lancashire had a couple of enforced switches as Luis Reece (injured) and Peter Siddle (Australia duty) were unavailable.
Clint McKay and Shreck got plenty of shape in the opening ten overs but Horton and Karl Brown, brought in to open the batting, got through unscathed. County kept persevering and McKay gained reward when Brown (21) nicked through to Niall O’Brien.
Raine then came on from the Pavilion End in place of Shreck and caused all sorts of problems with his movement. The all-rounder thought he had landed a second wicket for the team when finding Horton’s edge in the 18th over but Mark Cosgrove couldn’t hold on at first slip.
Leicestershire kept asking questions and the second wicket arrived when Wells found the edge of Alviro Petersen, O’Brien completing the dismissal with the score on 63. Runs were generally scarce, although Horton doubled his boundary tally in the 25th over with a brace of off-side drives.
The luckless Raine saw a Prince edge drop just short of Neil Pinner in the cordon in the 26th over before seeing the former South Africa international put down by Rob Taylor towards the end of that over and at the start of his next offering.
Raine finished with superb session figures of 8-3-11-0 as Lancashire went in on 91-2. Runs arrived more freely after the luncheon interval as the duo extended their alliance beyond 50. Horton hit two fours in three balls in the third over after lunch and then moved to 50 from 123 balls with his seventh boundary, a nudge down to third man.
Horton picked up another five fours after he reached 50, including a couple of well-timed off drives, but he perished playing a similar stroke as Wells had the batsman caught at the wicket.
It ended the 93-run stand with Prince (29 from 81), who was then out leg before to Shreck. That paired Croft and Davies at the wicket, who shared the matchwinning stand on Friday, but the latter also fell with the score on 156 after edging Shreck to O’Brien.
Leicestershire now had their tails up but Croft and Clark battled hard before the latter went on the counter attack. He struck 38 in the space of 16 deliveries, including eight boundaries, and recorded a batting point and the 50 partnership in the process.
The visitors went to tea on 227-5 with Croft having made 26 and Clark on 42 but the vital partnership was ended with the second ball of the final session having yielded 73. Clark collected a two off the first ball of Wells’ over but then was tempted into a drive and the consistent O’Brien claimed his fifth catch of the innings.
Croft took 13 off the 69th over, including three successive fours, as Lancashire passed 250 but a seventh wicket fell as Tom Bailey (2) dragged Taylor onto his stumps. The skipper then progressed to 50 from 76 balls, including seven boundaries.
There was a brief stoppage for bad light after 80 overs but the players soon returned and McKay and Shreck immediately took the new ball. The visitors claimed a third batting point and a Croft boundary took the stand with Buck beyond 50.
Buck then collected three fours in the 84th over to further frustrate his former teammates. The second of those boundaries was edged between second and third slip, with Taylor not able to cling on after diving to his left.
Another delay for bad light occurred before Buck fell two balls after the restart, Angus Robson pocketing the catch at first slip off McKay. Croft progressed to within two of his century before stumps as Lancashire banked four batting points.
But he lost Simon Kerrigan (6) to what proved to be the last ball of the day. Shreck claimed his 20th LV=CC wicket of the season as Ned Eckersley snapped up the chance at third slip to ensure County claimed maximum bowling points.
Bowling figures: McKay 23-6-62-1, Shreck 25.4-8-92-3, Raine 19-5-38-0, Wells 15-1-68-3, Cosgrove 3-0-13-0, Taylor 10-0-38-1.
