Gurney strikes twice but Derby dig in

Date: Wednesday 01 July 2009

Day Two Report: Leicestershire 412 (Allenby 96, Taylor 89, New 66, Ackerman 49, Hunter 5-82) lead Derbyshire 188-2 (Park 70*, Rogers 47) by 224 runs.

A steady batting performance ensured Derbyshire worked their way back into the Championship game with Leicestershire.

Replying to County’s total of 412, Derbyshire closed on 188-2 after 71 overs, reducing the deficit to 224 runs with eight wickets in hand.

Garry Park led the way with an unbeaten 70 for the hosts, and England under-19 batsman Dan Redfern (36*) joined him in an unbroken 85 stand for the third wicket.

Harry Gurney made the two breakthroughs for the Foxes, claiming both openers with the score on 60 and 103.

The left-arm seamer was the pick of the attack with his 2-20 off 13 overs, but although everyone else was largely parsimonious, wickets were hard to come by on a slow deck.

Earlier in the day, both teams achieved their primary objectives. Leicestershire, who resumed on 341-5, moved past their full batting point allocation, while Derbyshire took the five wickets needed to end the innings before lunch.

James Taylor fell eleven runs short of a second Championship hundred of the season, but ‘keeper Tom New ensured County made it to their target with an excellent innings of 66.

It was Ian Hunter who was again the chief tormentor, building on his three first-day wickets by taking the first two to fall today.

The Durham-born paceman’s first strike was a crucial one. He trapped Taylor leg-before to end four-hour stay at the crease.

The teenager constructed his innings from 212 balls, and found the boundary on eight occasions. However, when he fell with the score on 349, there was still work to do to get up to 400.

New batted really well before being last man out, and he ushered the side to the full compliment of points.

George Walker supported the batsman for half an hour, making three before becoming Hunter’s fifth victim of the innings.

The batsman followed Taylor in being snared lbw in his first Championship innings since 2003, and he fell with the score on 375.

Iain O’Brien and AJ Harris stuck around with New for a while, facing fifteen and fourteen balls respectively for five and four.

Nantie Hayward claimed his first Derbyshire wicket in first-class cricket by having O’Brien caught behind, though, and when Graham Wagg bowled Harris, New was quickly running out of partners.

He fell in the pursuit of late-order runs, losing his wicket to a stunning Steve Stubbings catch at slip off the bowling of Greg Smith to end the 96-ball innings which included eight fours.

With first-innings runs on the board with plenty of time to go in the match, County were hoping to press home their advantage.

That didn’t quite materialise as the rest of the day was largely cagey. The bowlers made scoring difficult throughout, and although wickets weren’t tumbling, Derbyshire did not cut loose.

Derbyshire had made 22-0 from four overs before lunch, but only 75 runs were scored during 35 overs between lunch and tea, with the wicket of dangerman Rogers thrown in for good measure.

The Australian made a bright 47 from 70 balls with six fours, and with his habit of cashing in and making big scores when he gets settled, Gurney struck at just the right time.

The left-armer had Rogers caught at the wicket by New, after the batsman had contributed more than three-quarters of the opening stand of 60 with Stubbings.

The left-hander did a good job in occupying the crease, but never got going at all.

By tea, he had batted for two-and-a half hours for his unbeaten 19 in a total of 97-1 from 39 overs, facing 107 balls without finding the boundary.

He was then dismissed just three balls after the interval without adding to his tally, and at that point, County may have sensed an opportunity with the end opened up.

However, Park kept going well, and Redfern took over the mantle of providing stubborn support.

Park’s 50 came from 108 balls, and by stumps, the in-form batsman was unbeaten on 70 from 158 balls with six fours, and Redfern was 36* from 90 deliveries.

County strove hard for breakthroughs, but they were not forthcoming. It was therefore important not to let the brakes off, and it was kept down to just more than two-and-a-half runs per over.

That was down to some disciplined bowling, as Jim Allenby sent down 13 overs for just 23 and Walker found turn whilst conceding just 34 from 16.

O’Brien’s analysis was also tight, and that backed up Gurney well, who kept the batsmen scoring at under two and also picked up those important wickets.

Although Leicestershire would have liked to have clattered through the home batting line-up, excellent economy was certainly not a bad consolation.

It means Derbyshire will now need to up the tempo to ensure they maximise the potential of registering batting points, thus increasing the opportunity for wickets if the bowlers stick to their disciplines.

Such quick breakthroughs would keep County very much in the hunt for their first Championship win of the seasonm while Derbyshire will be quietly confident of manoeuvring themselves into a position of strength.

It all bodes of an intriguing third day, which will go some way in determining the direction of the match.