Wickets tumble at Bristol

Date: Wednesday 06 May 2009

Close of Day One: Gloucs 75-4 (Gidman 34*, Wyatt 2-22) trail Leics 133 (New 54, Ireland 6-31) by 58 runs.

Leicestershire have fought back against Gloucestershire on a topsy-turvy day at Bristol, where 14 wickets fell in all.

After being inserted by home skipper Alex Gidman, County were going along nicely at 83 without loss shortly after lunch.

However, the dismissal of Matthew Boyce for 27 was the first of eight wickets to fall in an eventful passage of play as the team slumped to 96-8.

Former Zimbabwe bowler Anthony Ireland was the destroyer, taking six of those wickets as he returned an outstanding 6-31 from 14 overs.

Some spirited resistance from Wayne White and Iain O’Brien at least ensured the team got up to 133, and then, in reply, County hit back.

Firstly, Gloucs slipped to 20-3 as Harris, O’Brien, and Alex Wyatt all struck.

Then, when it looked as though Gidman and Chris Taylor had steered their side to the close, Wyatt struck for a second time on his Championship debut to leave the game delicately poised.

Gloucs ended the day on 75-4, still 58 runs in arrears with six wickets in hand.

Earlier in the day, everything was calm before lunch as Leicestershire’s left-handed opening pair built a solid platform. The duo shared 70 before lunch, with New on 41 and Boyce on 20.

It was far from easy going with just five boundaries scored during the session, but the duo grafted to gain the team a foothold in the match.

However, it was a different story after the interval as wickets tumbled. Boyce was first to go, bowled by Ireland after battling for 23 from 127 balls in a stay which lasted over three overs.

New fell just afterwards with the score still on 83 for a well-compiled 54 from 115 balls, being caught by keeper Steve Snell from the bowling of Tom Stayt.

Ireland then ripped through the middle-order to complete a devastating five-for.

He bowled Boeta Dippenaar without scoring, trapped HD Ackerman leg-before for three and had James Taylor and Paul Nixon caught by Jon Lewis and Will Porterfield respectively.

That left the score on 95-6, and just one further run was added before the fall of two more wickets.

Carl Crowe fell to the first ball he received, caught by Kadeer Ali to give Rob Woodman a wicket.

Harris then became Ireland’s sixth wicket as he was bowled, before White (14) and O’Brien (23) shared a spirited ninth-wicket stand worth 36. Indeed, they were the only other two batsmen apart from the openers who made double figures.

Steve Kirby and Jon Lewis chipped in for their first wickets of the innings to end County’s first knock, with the scoreboard not looking healthy.

First-innings batting has been a problem for Leics so far, with the side only having gained two first-innings batting points from three knocks this season.

However, everyone was in the mood to bounce back and so it proved.

Kadeer Ali was the first of three catches for Taylor, as Harris stuck an important blow.

Key man Hamish Marshall followed shortly after as Taylor held another catch off O’Brien.

Then, another important figure went as Boyce caught Porterfield to give Wyatt a first Championship wicket and leave the home side in some bother at 20-3.

Gidman and Taylor then held things up with a 50-run stand, but the latter’s namesake held onto another chance to give Wyatt another wicket.

County will need further wickets first thing tomorrow morning, but a spirited fightback was exactly what was required after the disappointing show with the bat.

In team news, County made one change from the side that drew with Middlesex with Wyatt coming in for Josh Cobb.