White, Henderson and O'Brien lead County recovery

Date: Thursday 03 September 2009

Day Two Report: Leics 269-9 (Henderson 71*, White 68) v Glamorgan

Claude Henderson shared gutsy stands with Wayne White and Iain O'Brien to help Leicestershire out of a potentially dire situation on the second day of the Championship match against Glamorgan at Grace Road.

Henderson and White, who both made half-centuries, put on 120 for the eighth wicket in an entertaining partnership to take County away from a perilous position of 95-7 just after lunch.

Then, when White finally departed for an excellent 68 - his maiden first-class half-century - Henderson (71*) added a further stand of 52 with Iain O'Brien (28), as the side finished in a far healthier position on 269-9.

It was an excellent recovery from the middle and lower order and much-needed after the visitors had got well on top.

After heavy rain on the first day and lots of overnight precipitation, play was not able to get underway until 11.30am this morning with eight overs lost.

Like most of yesterday, Garnett Kruger and James Harris carried out most of the workload early on, with Paul Nixon and Boeta Dippenaar having to get themselves back in.

That was a habit they were more than used to after a stop-start opening day and again they settled to their task. However, when both departed in quick succession, Glamorgan dominated the rest of the session.

Indeed, County had a bad period in losing four wickets for eleven runs as Kruger and Harris gained reward for some sharp bowling and took two wickets apiece.

It was typical September weather with a cold, biting wind but at least it was dry and there was a sustained period of play first up.

Even the sun made an appearance for around half a minute, and Nixon and Dippenaar greeted its arrival by being solid in defence.

Nixon did have a slice of luck when on 27 as he nicked Harris to Mark Wallace's left. The keeper took responsibility and dived in front of Tom Maynard at first slip but could only parry the ball past him and the chance went begging.

Boundaries were certainly hard to come by, but when the first came it was a beauty; Dippenaar playing a beautiful drive through mid-on to bring up the 50-stand.

The batter survived a loud shout from Harris shortly after and the visitors were certainly threatening. They were rewarded for their efforts with a flurry of wickets, which started with Kruger bowling Nixon with a slower ball that gripped and took out his middle stump.

Dippenaar was then deceived by a lack of pace and drove another slower ball straight back to Kruger, who held on to the catch in his follow through.

Glamorgan made the most of their exploits by continuing to cause problems for the new batsmen. Although Josh Cobb got off the mark with a fine straight drive which raced for four, he became Harris' first victim as the young seamer nipped one away and found the edge.

Harris then claimed a second wicket when trapping Tom New leg-before and County needed some stability prior to lunch.

Predictably, that was provided by James Taylor, who has been in outstanding form recently. He was well supported by James Benning, who cracked two early boundaries backward of point to get up and running.

Taylor dug in and also played a fine drive through extra, but a fifth wicket fell within the space of 30 runs before lunch as Chris Ashling had Benning leg-before for his maiden first-class wicket.

It was a proud moment for the young Lancastrian, and Kruger and Harris were also mightily impressive. The former County man took 2-11 from 7.3 overs in the morning, meaning he had 3-30 overall by lunch.

Harris, who burst onto the scene in 2007 and became Glamorgan's youngest ever first-class wicket taker, continues to impress.

Still just 19 years of age, the seamer has excelled in both Championship games so far with his pace, movement and accuracy. He also also showed excellent stamina here in bowling ten overs off the reel in the shortened first session, snaring 2-18 from his fine spell.

He had a match in Taylor, though, who got on his tiptoes to cut Harris powerfully for four before playing a lovely drive through the covers. It was a good contest between the two and Harris emerged victorious shortly after as Taylor chopped one onto his stumps.

County were in trouble at 95-7, but Henderson and White combined to good effect. Henderson belted a couple of drives through the covers to take the score past three figures and continued to score freely throughout the session.

Harris then finally got a rest after 14 overs either side of lunch at the Pavilion End as Robert Croft was bought into the attack. Ashling was still operating from the Bennett End, and White flicked a four off his pads before again finding the ropes with a lovely straight drive.

White looked in fine touch and creamed Croft through extra and that prompted Kruger's return in place of Ashling.

Henderson greeted that with a four through the covers, and Kruger's response was a couple of short pitched balls that the batsman wisely got out of the way of.

A leg-bye in the next over bought up the 50-run partnership, which was most welcome. White then drove Croft off the back-foot for another boundary as the batsmen continued their good work.

The stand stood at 65 by tea, which was taken early because of a shower. White began the evening session in fine style, driving beautifully through mid-on. Unfortunately, more rain came and forced the players off again with another couple of overs lost but they were soon back.

On the resumption, White again played a cracking on drive but, yet again, another shower fell and the players were scurrying for cover.

By this stage White had passed his previous first-class career best of 43, and when the match resumed, the all-rounder made his first fifty from 92 balls with his seventh four - a pull over mid-wicket.

The pair took their stand past three figures, and an all-run four from Henderson after a quality on drive took him near to his first fifty of the season.

A White edge over the slips bought the side their first bonus point and he continued to play well. The captain decided to utilise himself in a bid to break the partnership, which was now just five runs short of a record against Glamorgan.

Dalrymple certainly appeared to have the golden arm against County at Colwyn Bay, and he had the same effect here. The off-spinner enticed White into a cut stroke and the batsman dragged on to end a super knock.

Croft then returned to form a spin duo, but Henderson moved to a 96-ball half-century. He also received good support from O'Brien, who got off the mark with a cracking drive over cover from the bowling of the veteran off-spinner.

The duo continued to play well. O'Brien played another super cover drive and the duo took the score past 250 after the new ball was taken.

O'Brien was a bit fortunate when a nick to Maynard was put down, but fortune tends to favour the brave and the Kiwi had battled hard against a fired-up Kruger with the new cherry.

The duo went past their 50-run stand in the dying embers of the day, although O'Brien was trapped leg-before by Ashling shortly after.

AJ Harris helped Henderson to the close, and the spinner's effort was excellent. He faced 135 balls in a three-hour knock and his stands with White and O'Brien were critical in helping the team into a position of relative comfort.