Wickets fall to set up finely poised day three

DAY TWO | Middlesex CCC 324 v Leicestershire CCC 174 for five

SCORECARD | Available HERE

REPORT | Will Davis records a second career five wicket haul on day two, as the Running Foxes claim six wickets for 44 runs in the morning to claim all three bonus bowling points.

The Running Foxes got off to the perfect start on day two, with Abi Sakande striking with his ninth ball of the day after hitting Joe Cracknell on the back pad to dismiss him for 13.

Robbie White joined Sam Robson (138*) in the middle with Middlesex on 282 for four.

County’s fast start continued as White only managed to record five runs before joining his teammates back in the pavilion.

Will Davis earned his first wicket of the innings as Josh Inglis caught White behind, after the Foxes bowler found the batsman’s edge.

Middlesex were now 295 for five as James Harris joined Robson (146*) in the middle.

Robson then went on to bring up his 150 after driving Sakande away for his fifteenth four, coming in 271 balls.

The opening attack of Sakande and Davis were reaping the rewards of all the hard yards put in during a testing day one in the field, as the wickets continued to fall early on day two.

This time, it was the big wicket of Robson, as Inglis and Davis linked up again with the latter finding the edge and the former taking the pouch for 154.

Middlesex now had two new batsmen at the crease in Harris and Nathan Sowter, with Middlesex on 304 for six.

The seventh wicket stand could only last 23 deliveries before Davis claimed his third of the morning after getting one to seam back into Harris and strike him on the pads, infront for just five.

Ethan Bamber joined Sowter (3*) in the middle with the hosts on 311 for seven.

Davis continued to turn the screw for the Running Foxes as he went on to pick up his fourth of the morning with the wicket of Sowter.

The Middlesex batsman chopped on to his own stumps for three, with the hosts down to their final wicket on 312 for eight after confirmation that Stephen Eskinzai would not return to bat in the first innings after retiring hurt yesterday.

The Middlesex innings were then brought to a close as Davis recorded his five-fer, after Murtagh (4) lofted the delivery straight to the hands of Callum Parkinson at mid-off who took the simple catch.

Davis ended the first innings with figures of 27.4-4-66-5, figures that truly reflected his bowling performance over the course of the match so far, with the hosts ending their first innings on 324.

The Running Foxes began their reply to Middlesex’s first innings score of 324 as Sam Evans and Lewis Hill made their way out to the middle, with Tim Murtagh taking the new ball for the hosts.

Middlesex got off to a similarly quick start as the Foxes, with the early wicket of Evans.

Murtagh claimed the scalp, from his fifth delivery of the day, as Evans (4) drove his delivery straight to the hands of Nathan Sowter at cover.

Marcus Harris joined Hill (0*) in the middle and immediately got off to a positive start with two fours from Murtagh’s second over of the day.

Hill then followed up Harris’ positive start with back-to-back fours off Ethan Bamber in the next over, and after five, the Running Foxes were on 28 for one.

The second wicket partnership lasted only one further over though, before Murtagh claimed his second of the morning.

The man to go was Hill as he was trapped infront for nine. Colin Ackermann joined Harris (16*) in the middle with the Running Foxes on 29 for two.

The third wicket partnership this saw the Running Foxes through to lunch with their wicket still intact, as County lunched on 33 for two with Harris leading the way on 20*, accompanied by Ackermann (0*).

A boundary apiece early in the afternoon session saw the Running Foxes bring up their fifty, as Ackermann drove Bamber through extra cover for his first boundary of the day.

Two balls later though, and the Foxes had lost their third wicket after Marcus Harris (31) edged James Harris through to Robbie White who took the pouch to leave County three down for 52 runs, as Josh Inglis emerged.

The duo of Ackermann and Inglis took their time to get set and were carefully picking their shots as they formed what could be the crucial stand for Leicestershire.

They partnerships fifty soon came about after 108 deliveries and 78 minutes together.

Both batsmen were approaching their individual fifty’s with tea also on the horizon.

The interval was then brought up prematurely after Bamber’s delivery crashed into Inglis’ off stump to see him off for 49, agonisingly close to a maiden first-class half-century for Leicestershire CCC.

With Inglis’ wicket, the tea break came with Ackermann unbeaten in the middle on 49 and Leicestershire 149 for four.

It took Ackermann to three balls faced in the evening session to record his third half-century of the campaign, after clipping Harris into the leg side for a quick single. The fifty came from 130 balls and included seven fours.

With Ackermann’s half-century, the Running Foxes' 150 was also brought up after 46.3 overs.

Ackermann was joined by Harry Swindells in the middle, and the partnership lasted just shy of an hour before Swindells was heading back into the pavilion.

It took a superb low catch from Sowter at mid-wicket to catch Swindells’ clip off his pads, and the Foxes man went for a 43-ball six.

Ben Mike emerged to join Ackermann (64*) in the middle, and the duo were only together 13 minutes before the players were hauled off the pitch due to bad light at 17:42. Play was officially called at 18:12 with Ackermann (65*) and Mike (1*) seeing the day to a close with Leicestershire on 174 for five.

FIGURES (1st inns) | Davis 27.4-4-66-5, Sakande 22-4-80-2, Barnes 16-2-49-1, Parkinson 23-6-62-0, Mike 20-7-51-1

Murtagh 13-4-34-3, Bamber 18-5-36-1, Harris 15-1-43-1, Mitchell 10-2-29-0, Sowter 5-0-27-0

TEAM | Sam Evans, Lewis Hill, Marcus Harris, Colin Ackermann (C), Josh Inglis (wk), Harry Swindells, Ben Mike, Callum Parkinson, Ed Barnes, Will Davis, Abi Sakande

MIDDLESEX CCC | Sam Robson, Josh de Caires, Stephen Eskinazi, Max Holden, Daryl Mitchell, Joe Cracknell, Robbie White (wk), Nathan Sowter, James Harris, Ethan Bamber, Tim Murtagh (C)

IMAGES | Thanks to John Mallett of Outside Off for providing the images throughout the game.