SECOND XI MATCH REPORT: Lancashire in charge against Notts
A half century by Matty Hurst helped Lancashire set Nottinghamshire a substantial target on the final day of this Second Eleven Championship match at Lady Bay, the hosts closing on 44-1 and needing a further 380 runs to win.
For Championship leaders Lancashire, the aim tomorrow is to claim the remaining nine wickets that would clinch a fourth victory from the six matches they have played so far (the seventh was an match at Chesterfield abandoned without a ball bowled).
Lancashire opted against enforcing the follow-on when play resumed at eleven o’clock and set about adding to their 179-run first innings lead.
After two early setbacks, when Cian Dickinson edged Toby Pettman to first slip for 8 and George Lavelle was bowled for 2 by a fast seaming delivery from James Hayes, the visitors settled once Hurst and Arav Shetty added 91 runs for the third wicket either side of lunch to extend the lead towards 300.
Shetty, who launched Farhad Ahmed for six over midwicket, edged the spinner behind two balls later for 35 – the first of four wickets to fall for 21 runs – as Nottinghamshire hit back to hinder Lancashire’s steady progress.
Hayes nipped one back to have Tom Aspinwall lbw for 0, Hurst gave a bat/pad catch to short leg off Ahmed having made a positive 72 off 98 balls, and Kesh Fonseka nicked an attempted drive behind off the dangerous Hayes (3-60) having made 14, to leave Lancashire 149-6 and ahead by 328 runs.
Jon Fielding gave wicketkeeper Dane Schadendorf his seventh victim of the match when he was stumped for 9 giving Ahmed the charge, Jack Carney was caught at gully for 24 off Pettman and Danny Lamb skied a catch to deep backward square sweeping at Ahmed when on 18 to make the score 200-9.
Skipper Josh Boyden and Charlie Barnard then frustrated the hosts with a tenth wicket partnership of 44 until left hander Boyden chipped a return catch to Ahmed who finished with the excellent figures of 5-60.
That meant Nottinghamshire required 424 to win from 134 overs but the hosts were immediately on the back foot from the fifth ball of the innings when Ben Martindale, on 4, was lbw to Boyden for the second time in the match when the left arm seamer nipped one past the left arm opener’s forward defence.
Tom Loften and Schadendorf had added 40 runs before bad light brought an early end to the day just after 6pm with Lancashire in with a great chance of clinching a fourth victory of the season tomorrow.