Allenby leads the fightback

Date: Friday 17 April 2009

Close of Day Three: Leics 150-8 (Allenby 50*) trail Northants 387 (Hall 124*) by 237 runs going into the final day’s play.

A battling unbeaten 50 from Jim Allenby helped Leicestershire recover from 19-5 to 150-8 by the close of the third day’s play against Northants at Grace Road, an overall deficit of 237 runs.

Allenby and Paul Nixon shared a vital sixth-wicket stand of 63 to help County out of immediate danger, and Sam Cliff added a breezy unbeaten 25 towards the end of the day in an unbroken stand of 32 with the all-rounder.

Despite those two positive stands, Leicestershire still trail their opponents substantially after the visitors posted 387 when play began after lunch.

That was thanks in large to Andrew Hall, who scored his first century for Northants from 193 balls with 13 fours and a six.

He went on to post an unbeaten 124, with Johannes van der Wath and Monty Panesar also adding useful contributions of 24 apiece.

The final four wickets of the County innings were shared by AJ Harris (4-109), Cliff (2-92), Wayne White (2-54) and Claude Henderson (1-49).

Nixon took the first three catches to fall. He held onto regulation nicks of van der Wath and David Lucas off Harris and Cliff, before taking a splendid effort down the leg-side off the bowling of White to dismiss Panesar.

Henderson trapped David Wigley lbw to round off the innings, and County needed a positive start to start chipping away at the total.

Sadly, that never materialised. van der Wath and Lucas both bowled nicely throughout the day’s play, with the South African nipping it off the seam and Lucas swinging it through the air.

Things started badly as Tom New was snared lbw by van der Wath from the second ball of the knock, and Matthew Boyce was given out caught behind off the same bowler shortly after.

HD Ackerman was then trapped lbw from the very next ball to give van der Wath an early three-for, and County were in some trouble at 13-3.

Boeta Dippenaar had started well, but he was next to go, nicking to Riki Wessels off Lucas. The left-armer then gained the wicket of Josh Cobb, who was adjudged lbw to a ball that swung sharply.

Nixon and Allenby steadied the ship impressively, but the skipper fell in unfortunate circumstances after striking six boundaries.

He chopped a short, wide ball from Hall onto his stumps after making a battling 31, and the Northants’ jubilant celebration owed how much they rated Nixon’s wicket.

White and Henderson then became Lucas’ third and fourth victims of the day, both falling to catches behind the wicket by ‘keeper Wessels and second slip Nicky Boje respectively.

Allenby was in defiant mode though, and made a 122-ball half-century by the close.

Cliff was also up for the scrap, and that was a positive sign as County will need to keep taking chunks out of the deficit throughout tomorrow’s play.

* Picture supplied by Michael Eden