Seconds draw thriller with Surrey

Date: Friday 22 May 2009

Leicestershire Second XI 114-5 dec and (set 256 to win) 244-9 drew with Surrey 187-9 dec and 182-4 dec.

Leicestershire Second XI had an entertaining draw against Surrey after both sides went all out to force a result on the final day.

After rain had spoilt the opening two days, County declared on their overnight score of 114-5 to show their intent early on.

Surrey then batted positively in their second innings, making 182-4 declared.

There were half centuries for Chris Jordan and captain Chris Murtagh, while Laurie Evans and Jon Batty chipped in with 31 not out and 30 respectively.

For County, Wayne White was the pick of the attack with 2-41. He bowled with controlled aggression and produced two beauties to bowl Batty and have James Benning caught at gully by Alex Roberts.

Roberts himself got in on the act by nipping one through Murtagh’s defences, and Kieran Garside took Jordan’s wicket, caught well by skipper Jacques du Toit at first slip.

It meant County had 256 to chase in around 50 overs of play, and they set about the task well.

There was another 50-run opening stand as Josh Cobb and Sundeep Patel shared 59 before tea.

Cobb again drove fluently, including a staright six off spinner Simon King. However, the bowler had his revenge with the very next ball - the last before tea - as Cobb was caught at mid-off by Tim Linley.

It was Linley himself who was the key bowler for the visitors, snaring six wickets after the break to halt the visitors’ charge.

It was fellow seamer Benning who took Joel Pope’s wicket as the keeper was caught attempting to hook, before Linley – who finished with superb figures of 6-68 from 16 overs - struck two important blows later in the day.

With the score on 127-2 with an hour’s play remaining, Patel and Roberts were well set and made a conscious effort to up the tempo.

With 129 required from the last 20 overs, it was never going to be easy, and Linley claimed both batsmen in an over to leave things even tougher.

The accurate seamer had Patel (48) caught behind by Batty, before enticing Roberts (45) into a shot which ended up as a drag-on to the stumps.

du Toit and White were not going to hang about though, and both scored at more than a run-a-ball to keep the game in the balance.

The captain, who had been unwell earlier in the day, made an entertaining 22 before being caught by Jordan at mid-wicket off Linley.

The bowler then nipped one through Rob Taylor’s defences to leave the score on 192-6, but White and Naik combined to leave the team needing 49 from the last five.

White’s all-round abilities have caught the eye all season, and his knock of 32 included a mighty straight six and a couple of well-timed fours.

However, S.King and Linley took the wickets of White and Naik (13) respectively to put a huge dent in the chase, but County battled on to ensure a draw would be gained.

Indeed, Sam Cliff’s cameo of 17 and some good batting by Kieran Garside got the team ever closer to that target, before the former was bowled off his pads by Linley with two balls to go to set up a nervewracking finish.

That meant Harry Gurney had to survive the final two balls, and he did in style, hitting an all-run four along the way.

All-in-all it was an entertaining game, and the Seconds now travel to face Derbyshire at Denby in a three-day Championship game which starts next Tuesday.