Battling County secure Swansea stalemate

Date: Saturday 24 July 2010

Some pugnacious final day batting allowed Leicestershire to take a draw from their LV=County Championship game against Glamorgan at Swansea.

Paul Nixon and James Taylor - the ideal men for these situations - led the way in terms of run-scoring and Jigar Naik did a brilliant job as nightwatchman as the team saw out 107 overs in total to secure seven points from the contest.

Naik was stubbornness personified as he batted for just over three hours to thwart a dangerous home attack.

The young off-spinner faced 193 deliveries during the vigil while County’s leading Championship runscorers continued their fine form.

Nixon posted an unbeaten half-century and Taylor scored 43 while all-rounders Naik and Wayne White also made substantial contributions.

Nixon (57*) and Taylor featured in important stands of 63 and 42 respectively with Naik, who is having a really impressive season with both bat and ball.

The off-spinner tallied 35 valuable runs and White added an unbeaten 24 as part of an unbroken 45-run stand with Nixon either side of a 50-minute break for tea and rain.

It all allowed County to close in relative comfort on 221-6 declared - a lead of 178 – when the captains shook hands at 5pm.

All three results were possible at the start of play but the tone for the day was set when Jacques du Toit fell to the very first ball of the day.

Had du Toit really got going, Leicestershire may have got into a position to put Glamorgan under real pressure. His departure meant the team faced a real battle to save the game though.

du Toit was bowled by James Harris without any addition to the overnight score, so the team still trailed by two runs with seven wickets in hand at that stage.

Taylor took the side into the lead with two boundaries and Naik kept working hard too against an attack which posed plenty of problems.

If it wasn’t the fiery Harris probing away then it was the spin triumvirate of Robert Croft, Dean Cosker and Jamie Dalrymple asking questions on a wearing surface.

Slow left armer Cosker started with four maidens and the spinners continued to be hard to negotiate. They were able to operate with men around the bat but Naik defended stoutly and Taylor played nicely again.

Cosker went for just eight runs in nine overs in his opening spell while Croft toiled away with enthusiasm as he had done throughout.

The batting duo took their defiant stand past fifty and, importantly, they were taking time out of the equation.

Taylor pulled nicely for four as he continued to manipulate the ball nicely and that particular stroke bought up the hundred.

Unfortunately he fell before the interval as Gareth Rees took the catch off Croft at short leg, but Taylor’s 43 from 96 balls was a critical knock.

It took him just thirteen shy of 700 Championship runs for the season; a great effort so far, particularly after a testing time.

Naik smashed Dalrymple through extra cover as he recorded his second boundary of the session and by lunch he was unbeaten on 25 from 150 deliveries.

Croft had figures of 1-39 off 25 and Cosker had conceded just 12 runs from nineteen highly parsimonious overs.

At the break, the lead had been extended to 71 and with two sessions to go, the good ship Leicestershire was heading into safer waters with Nixon joining Naik at the crease.

The score was 114-4 at the interval and Nixon got the scoreboard moving after the break. The left-hander reverse-swept the Glamorgan captain for six before driving Croft through mid on.

Naik also cut Dalrymple for four for his third boundary but the skipper gained revenge late by tweaking one through his fellow off-spinner’s defences.

Tom New then joined Nixon as the Leicestershire batsmen continued to battle. The hosts took the new ball after 86 overs with Harris returning to bowl alongside Croft.

The change of tack did for New who touched a delivery that bounced from Harris and Mark Wallace again did the honours behind the stumps.

White hit an early boundary through mid off as he and Nixon joined forces and at tea, the team had progressed to 197-6; a more than handy lead of 154 with just one session of play remaining.

It meant Leicestershire had virtually secured the draw; although in the era of twenty20 cricket, it still appeared that around another ten overs of batting would be needed to ensure Glamorgan didn’t have the opportunity to chase anything.

That didn't prove to be the case though as another rain delay in the game finally dampened all hopes of any result other than a draw.

The heavy shower wiped out half an hour’s play and Nixon and White then saw the job through. Nixon moved to fifty from 118 balls, and his determined innings spanned 144 minutes and included three fours and a six.

It meant County took seven points from the game, which could have been extremely exciting had seventy overs not been lost throughout.