SECOND XI: Sublime Shetty ton puts Lancashire in strong position on Day One
Lancashire Cricket’s Second XI dominated Day One of their Second XI Championship match away to Warwickshire at Edgbaston Community Sports Ground.
A sensational 172 off just 162 deliveries by Arav Shetty put Lancs in a strong position, before Jack Blatherwick took two late wickets to leave the hosts in trouble at stumps.
The Red Rose won the toss and elected to bat first, though things got off to a tough start in the first hour of the day. Kesh Fonseka (7) and captain George Bell (4) both fell inside the first 10 overs, with Charlie Taylor picking up both the wickets.
Michael Jones offered some resistance to the early wickets, hitting 26 which included four boundaries, but he was caught behind by Kai Smith off the bowling of Jacob Garlick. Rian Maisuria was dismissed in the following over.
The fall of Jones brought Shetty to the crease, who got into his work quickly despite the wickets. He struck two boundaries in between the fall of those two Lancs wickets, and, alongside George Harris (30), began to rebuild the innings.
They put on 60 for the fifth wicket, but Harris was dismissed just before his partner could reach a half-century. The left-hander was caught off the bowling of Che Simmons but worked hard to drag Lancs into a better position.
Shetty, now batting with Blatherwick, continued to motor. He soon reached 50, off just 67 balls, and had the fast-bowling all-rounder ably supporting him.
The pair peppered the boundary, and reached a century partnership from just 101 balls, testament to the aggression with which they batted.
Blatherwick was constantly on the attack, clearing the rope four times on his way to a dashing 61 from 74 deliveries. He fell to Taz Ali, gifting the spinner a simple caught and bowled. His partnership with Shetty ended for a brutal 140.
The Lancashire number five, though, did not falter. Shetty continued in fluid fashion and reached a sensational hundred from just 110 balls soon after, knocking the ball for a single down the ground to reach the milestone. His ton included 14 boundaries and a six.
From there, the all-rounder only attacked more. Now batting with Luke Hands (32), with whom he put on a fantastic 94-run partnership, Shetty would strike a further three sixes, showing plenty of elegance with flicks for six off his pads, uppercuts which went for four, and textbook cover drives.
Shetty’s mammoth innings was eventually ended by Garlick, who had him caught by Ali. He was dismissed for 172 runs off just 162 deliveries, striking 23 fours and four maximums.
The Red Rose were eventually bowled out for an impressive 388, but there was still work to be done with the ball.
Off the very first ball of the Warwickshire innings, Blatherwick (2-21) picked up a wicket. He had George Garton caught in the slip cordon by Luke Hands and struck again off the first ball of his fourth over. This time, Sinel Gunarathne edged behind, with Harris taking the catch in the slips.
The Bears managed to get through to the close without losing another wicket. They are 60-2 at stumps, trailing by 328, on a day which will be remembered for Shetty’s sublime 172.
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