Harris and Balderson half centuries counter Scriven five wicket haul
Today's match report presented by C&C Insurance Brokers
Half centuries by Marcus Harris and George Balderson helped counter a career-best five wicket haul by Tom Scriven as Leicestershire underlined their credentials as Division Two leaders on an eventful second day at Emirates Old Trafford.
After bowling Lancashire out for 263, the visitors replied with a rapid century opening partnership between Rehan Ahmed and Sol Budinger and had reached 120 for one by the close to trail by 143 runs.
Initially, batting on a second morning delayed by thirty minutes proved just as tricky as on the first during which Lancashire had fought their way to 61 for three.
Harris drove the fifth ball of the day from Logan van Beek for four but that shot proved to be the exception as the Leicestershire attack continued to extract enough movement from the conditions to constantly trouble the batters during the morning.
Ahmed dropped Matty Hurst on 13 for the second time in the innings, a shoulder high chance that burst through the fielder’s hands at third slip off the unfortunate van Beek.
And Hurst made the most of his reprieve, hitting 18 off four deliveries from van Beek in the ninth over of the day, starting with a pulled six over backward square leg followed by three consecutive fours, the latter bringing up the fifty partnership with Harris from 109 balls.
Hurst’s luck finally ran out fifty minutes into the day when Scriven nipped his second ball of the morning back sufficiently to trap the wicketkeeper lbw for 46 and break a promising 73-run stand.
Meanwhile Harris had mixed some excellent defence with several good shots that included three sweetly timed drives for four that took the Australian overseas player to his half century off 108 balls just before lunch.
So far Harris has passed fifty in four of his first five Championship innings for Lancashire. Only Ashwell Prince, who posted 50+ in each of his first 4 innings for the Red Rose has a better record.
Although conditions for batting eased slightly after lunch, there was still enough in the wicket to keep the bowlers interested as Scriven proved when he brought one back from outside off stump to trap Harris lbw for 77 early in the afternoon session to leave Lancashire 184 for five. Harris now has made a Championship-leading 360 runs at an average of 72.00.
A running mix-up then saw Tom Hartley depart for 11 and Luke Wells, who had earlier retired hurt on 9 following a painful blow to his left elbow, returned to add 20 to his score before becoming Sciven’s third lbw victim of the day.
Balderson had progressed slowly but surely to his fifty off 132 balls when leg glancing Scriven for his sixth four, but two balls later the bowler produced a beautiful delivery from around the wicket that came back sharply to take out middle stump for 51.
Scriven’s maiden ‘five-for’ arrived when Anderson Phillip edged behind for 3 and van Beek finally had a catch taken when John Turner edged his first ball to Louis Kimber at first slip with the last four wickets falling for 21 runs in 35 balls.
Lancashire were left to rue missing a good chance off the fifth ball of the Leicestershire innings when Budinger edged Mahmood, returning to Championship action for the first time since last May, between first and second slip at a catchable height when on 0.
Ahmed and Budinger attacked with gusto to race to their fifty partnership off 61 balls but Budinger had a second let off on 31 in Hartley’s opening over. The Leicestershire opener pulled Hartley’s second delivery viciously but hit Josh Bohannon fielding at bat/pad. Budinger then edged a sharp chance off the next delivery that Bohannon juggled three times but couldn’t hold.
The breakthrough Lancashire sought soon arrived when Budinger pulled Mahmood to Bohannon at mid-on for 41 to end the opening stand at 102.
Ahmed posted his half century off 77 balls just before the close and he will return tomorrow on 61 alongside Ian Holland who is 6 not out.
“It was quite a tricky wicket yesterday. There's obviously a bit more grass on it than the last game, so there's a bit more in it,” assessed Marcus Harris.
“Batting first under probably cloudier conditions, we haven't had the best of conditions, but it felt like 265 was probably around par. They came out and scored quite quickly there at the end, but I thought we dragged it back in the last 45 minutes and bowled a lot better.
“It still feels like there's enough in the wicket, we’ve just got to put the ball in the right spot for long enough.
“It wasn't an impossible wicket to bat on,” he added.
“There was obviously a bit more in it than what there has been, but if you could apply yourself for long enough, there were chances to score.
“I think having opened the batting for a long time, I’m used to having the batting in all different types of conditions. So, it wasn't anything unusual. And like I said, the wicket felt like it wasn't like a minefield.
“It's like the odd ball did a bit, but more often than not, it came on okay. So, it was sort of just about applying your game plan and sticking out there for long enough, I think. Credit to them, they bowled pretty well.
“They had slightly more defensive fields that didn't let the board tick as much. So, maybe in previous games we would have scored a few more runs, but with their field set, it sort of stopped the runs flowing as much.”
Looking ahead to tomorrow Harris said:
“I think if we can bowl well, control the board a bit more, I think Tommy Hartley looked really good at the end then.
“So, plug him in from one end and have the big boys go from this end, I think we should be all right.”
