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| Leicestershire CCC v Worcestershire CCC |
LV= County Championship
Tues 4th - Fri 7th May, at Grace Road |
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| Articles & Reports |
Match Report
Day 1.
Gareth Andrew returned to the Championship side for the trip to Grace Road for the match against Leicestershire. Vikram Solanki won the toss for Worcestershire and elected to bat first.
Worcestershire lost two early wickets but the solid batting of Daryl Mitchell and Moeen Ali saw the visitors safely to lunch with the score at 116-1. Moeen continued his fine early season form, averaging over 86.5 in First Class cricket, with another useful knock of 80 before being trapped LBW by Matthew Hoggard after lunch. Ali and Mitchell completed a 3rd wicket stand of 145 which helped set up the rest of the Worcestershire innings.
Matthew Hoggard also picked up the wicket of Daryl Mitchell for 56, also LBW. The return of Gareth Andrew brought some much needed strength to the lower order with a more than useful innings of 53 which helped Worcestershire to reach 308 all out just before the close of play. Alexei Kervezee (32) and Richard Jones (21) both made combinations to make use of some occasional wayward bowling, with the notable exceptions of Hoggard who finished on 3-69 from 26 overs and Nathan Buck with 3-64 from 19 overs.
Just two overs were left to complete in the day with Leicestershire reaching 9-0 by the close of play.
Close of Play Day 1: Worcestershire 308. Leicestershire 9-0.
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Day 2.
Worcestershire finished the second day at Grace Road in a strong position after a good performance by the seam bowlers, in particular by Jack Shantry.
The day started well with Will Jefferson being trapped LBW in the second over of the day by Richard Jones. Leicestershire reached 85-4 by lunch with Jones & Shantry picking up two wickets apiece and with the economical bowling of Alan Richardson ensuring runs were hard to come by.
In a twenty over spell stretching over lunch Jack Shantry had a spell of 4-44 which helped reduce the home side to 145-7 and still behind the follow on figure.
Paul Nixon was the key batsman for the home side and helped Leicestershire just pass the follow on figure with a 6th wicket partnership of 39 with Tom New (22) and a 8th wicket stand of 31 with Claude Henderson (23).
Henderson was well caught in the gully by Phil Jaques just before tea. The last two wickets fell within five overs of the resumption after tea with Nixon being the 9th wicket to fall. Jack Shantry picked up the final wicket to record career best figures of 5-49 to help dismiss Leicestershire for 181.
Richard Jones (3-49) was also in good form, taking the wickets of the top three Leicestershire batsmen including the key wicket of Paul Nixon who top scored with 74 after a fine innings and perhaps looked the only Leicestershire batsman totally comfortable against the Worcestershire seam attack.
This gave Worcestershire a healthy first innings lead of 127 which they extended to 189 by the close of play. Worcestershire recovered from the loss of two early wickets to finish the day on 62-2 with Daryl Mitchell 23* and Moeen Ali 21*.
Close of Play Day 2: Worcestershire 308 & 62-2. Leicestershire 181.
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Day 3:
The Championship match at Grace Road is evenly posed going into the final day with the home side being set a large target to chase but with plenty of wickets in hand going into the final day.
Worcestershire lost Mitchell early in the morning session, trapped LBW for 13 by Nathan Buck. That brought Alexei Kervezee to the wicket who wasted no time in building a good partnership with Moeen Ali. The pair looked quite comfortable with the score at 124-2 when bad light and light rain brought an early lunch.
Shortly after lunch Moeen Ali was trapped LBW for 42. A 5th wicket stand of 99 between Ben Smith and Kervezee helped Worcestershire to build even further on their first innings lead. Kervezee looked well placed to score his maiden First Class century but was also out LBW for 99, again off the bowling of Nathan Buck. It was a slightly disappointing end to a stylish innings lasting 127 deliveries and including 13 boundaries but it did allow Worcestershire to take their lead well over 300.
Ben Smith was left unbeaten on 51* when Worcestershire declared on 277-9, giving Leicestershire a target of 405 to win with 35 overs left in the 3rd day.
Leicestershire’s reply started slowly but confidently. Matthew Boyce fell early for 4, however this proved to be the only wicket as Will Jefferson (60*) and Paul Nixon (30*) upped the scoring rate and looked comfortable in batting out the day in an unbeaten partnership of 84 to leave the home side on 107-1 at the close of play.
Worcestershire will require early wickets on the final day in order to put pressure on the home side on which might be an eventful final day, if the weather does not intervene.
Close of Play Day 3: Worcestershire 308 & 277-9 dec. Leicestershire 181 & 107-1.
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Day 4:
Alan Richardson marked his 35th birthday with another 5 wicket haul which helped set up a win for Worcestershire over Leicestershire at Grace Road.
The final day started well for the County with Richardson picking up a wicket in the first over of the day after tempting Will Jefferson to edge a catch to Ben Scott for 60 before he was able to add to his overnight score after a 2nd wicket stand of 85 with Paul Nixon the previous day.
It proved to be a crucial first half hour of the match with 4 wickets falling in the space of 7 overs for just 16 runs. Richard Jones made the break through in his third over of the day picking up two quick wickets, including the key wicket of Paul Nixon for 45. Richardson then claimed another vital wicket of James Taylor, gloving a catch to Ben Scott for 3.
At 124-5 the home side fought back with a 6th wicket stand between Tom New and Jacques du Toit which took them safely to lunch with the score on 211-6.
In common with most sessions in this match a wicket fell soon after the resumption of a break. This time it was Alan Richardson once again picking up a wicket in the first over of the session trapping Tom New LBW for 42 after a 6th wicket stand of 88 with du Toit.
This signalled the end of any chance of Leicestershire batting out the day. Richardson picked up his 5th wicket with du Toit being caught in the covers for 52. It was the second match in succession that Richardson had taken 5 wickets, this time finishing with figures of 5-44.
Jack Shantry picked up the last wicket clean bowling Matthew Hoggard and with Wayne White unable to bat the home side were all out for 231.
The 173 run win for Worcestershire takes them up to third in the table with the next match against the second placed side, Derbyshire.
Match Result: Worcestershire (308 & 277-9 dec) beat Leicestershire (181 & 231) by 173 runs. Worcestershire 22 points. Leicestershire 3 points.
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Alternative articles and match reports on Worcestershire County Cricket Club maybe found on the links below.
ECB LV = County Championship Reports
Worcester News
The Telegraph
The Times
The Guardian
The Independent
Test Match Extra
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