Seconds lose to Lancs in Championship

Date: Friday 12 June 2009

Leicestershire 2nd XI 57 (Cheetham 7-34, Hogg 3-22) and 245 (Patel 83, Pope 65, Reece 3-27) lost to Lancashire Second XI 297 (Croft 84, Hogg 76, Taylor 4-11) and 6-2 by eight wickets.

Leicestershire Seconds lost to Lancashire in the Championship by eight wickets at Uppingham School.

The team were not helped by injuries to four semaers on the opening morning, and Steven Croft (84) and Kyle Hogg (76) both batted nicely to ensure Lancashire made 297 in their first knock.

Rob Taylor was the most successful bowler, taking 4-11, and in all, nine bowlers were used as injuries hit Kieran Garside, Alex Roberts, Dan Masters and Alex Wyatt.

Steve Cheetham then gave the visitors the ideal start, taking three wickets as County were 37-4 by the close.

The bowler then claimed four more wickets the following day to finish with 7-34, and Hogg chipped in with 3-22 to bowl out the team for 57.

Shiv Thakor stood firm with an unbeaten 12 after batting at number five, but wickets fell around him quickly.

The only other two batsmen to get into double figures in the innings were openers Tom Flowers and Sunny Patel as the opening bowlers dominated proceedings.

County were forced to follow on, and enjoyed a far more productive knock second time round.

Patel led the way with 83, and Joel Pope also battled hard for 65 as the team made Lancashire bat again in making 245.

Luis Reece took 3-27 for Lancs, while Steven Parry claimed 2-39 and Cheetham added another couple to finish with match figures of 9-83.

It meant Lancs needed six runs to win, and County went down fighting by taking two wickets for the opening two runs. However, Lancashire went on to win the game by eight wickets.