The Running Foxes earn hard-fought draw
Tue 25 Aug 2020
DAY FOUR | Leicestershire CCC 222 & 237 for four v Nottinghamshire CCC 343 for eight declared
SCORECARD | Available from Cricinfo HERE.
REPORT | Harry Swindells hit his maiden first-class fifty as the battling Foxes claimed a draw from the penultimate Bob Willis Trophy game of the campaign against Nottinghamshire CCC.
The conditions on day four were very wet and windy which led to an early lunch taken at 12:30 without a single ball bowled.
Heavy rain relented and play was able to begin at 2:15pm following a magnificent effort by the groundstaff to clear the water off the square.
Leicestershire had skipper Colin Ackermann and George Rhodes in the middle on 143 for three with a howling gale blowing across the ground.
After just nine deliveries, the rain returned, causing a slight delay in play. Shortly after the delay, Ackermann was pinned lbw by Peter Trego as he departed for an excellent 65 off 159 balls, including nine boundaries.
Swindells then joined Rhodes on the middle who made a quick start scoring 26 from 34 balls including five fours.
The Leicestershire pair took the Foxes up to 205 for four heading into tea. The duo continued to play in the same manner after the interval with Rhodes being watchful and brave, and Swindells taking the attack to the bowlers.
Swindells made short work of hitting his eighth boundary to achieve his maiden first-class half-century off 66 balls. An ever so impressive innings considering the conditions were becoming increasingly difficult for play.
As the Foxes extended their lead over Nottinghamshire into three figures and with another downpour over the Fischer County Ground, the umpires called time and the match resulted in a draw.
Figures (1st inns) | Trego 22-9-46-3, Chappell 20-5-54-2, James 9-0-43-1, Barber 12-1-48-2, Patel 11.1-3-25-2
Taylor 29-5-94-2, A.Evans 17-2-73-1, Griffiths 20.5-4-64-2, Mike 20-6-48-3, Weighell 6-0-29-0, Ackermann 7-1-19-0
Figures (2nd inns) | Trego 17-4-63-2, Chappell 18.2-8-34-0, James 7-2-12-0, Mullaney 12-6-37-1, Barber 20-5-43-0, Patel 17-8-25-1
TEAM | Hassan Azad, Sam Evans, Harry Dearden, Colin Ackermann (c), George Rhodes, Harry Swindells (wk), Tom Taylor, Ben Mike, James Weighell, Gavin Griffiths.
Nottinghamshire CCC | Haseeb Hameed, Ben Slater, Ben Duckett, Joe Clarke, Steven Mullaney (c), Peter Trego, Tom Moors (wk), Samit Patel, Zak Chappell, Lyndon James, Tom Barber.
IMAGES | Thanks to John Mallett of Outside Off for providing the images throughout the game.
