Collymore's six-for seals Sussex success

Date: Saturday 31 July 2010

A fine innings from Jacques du Toit could not prevent Leicestershire from slipping to defeat inside three days against leaders Sussex in the LV=County Championship match at Grace Road.

du Toit (81 from 83 balls) shared 79 for the sixth wicket in a bright partnership with Wayne White (23) but Corey Collymore claimed 6-48 to help bowl out Leicestershire for 156 in their second innings.

It ensured the visitors triumphed by an innings and 19 runs as they keep up a hot pace at the top of the table and they will surely now gain promotion to Division One.

Peristent drizzle in the morning meant that play was delayed by an hour and five minutes and Leicestershire resumed on 59-4 when the players were able to take to the field.

du Toit (31* overnight) and Tom New (2) continued their partnership. The team needed a solid opening to proceedings given they started with a deficit of 116 with six wickets in hand.

For the second consecutive Saturday though, County lost a wicket to the first ball of the day. It was the worst possible start as Lewis Hatchett nipped a ripsnorter back into New, who saw the ball go between bat and pad and had the top of off stump disturbed.

Sussex may well have thought about using key operator Collymore first up but the left armer had given them a flying start and was rewarded for his good work with an extended spell from the Pavilion End.

Leicestershire then put up some spirited resistance in the form of an entertaining stand from du Toit and White, who played with controlled aggression as they set about negating the threat of the bowlers with a counter-attack.

The all rounder cut over the cordon for the first four of the day before launching into a more conventional version of the stroke through point.

Runs continued to flow as du Toit found the third man boundary before glancing off his pads for another four. The batsman then survived a huge appeal for a catch down the leg side with Yasir Arafat convinced he had his man but umpire Nick Cook was unmoved.

It was certainly an all-action beginning as County kept their run rate going at around five runs per over. Things settled down somewhat as the duo played sensibly and du Toit moved his way to a half-century from just 52 balls.

He hit eight fours along the way in what was his fifth Championship fifty of the campaign and the number three batter continued to prosper after reaching the landmark.

du Toit stroked down the ground for four and a cut through backward point bought up the fifty run stand between the duo. They took the score to 115-5 at lunch with du Toit unbeaten on 62 and White not out on 18 at that stage.

du Toit continued on his way after lunch by lofting Collymore over mid off and driving through mid on and those strokes demonstrated what good touch the batsman is in.

Straight driving was a feature of his innings and another stroke off Panesar also found the ropes as he took on the slow left armer. du Toit hit Collymore over the top again as he was determined not to let the seamer settle into a line and length.

The bowler stuck to his guns though and had du Toit caught at first slip from the very next ball. The batsman died as he had lived; being prepared to take on the attack in a bid to knock them out of their stride. It was uplifting stuff.

When Claude Henderson fell in identical fashion later that over, Leicestershire were now 138-7. Nadeem Malik was the next man in and Collymore thought he had his five-for on two separate occasions.

The seamer enticed the batsman to edge twice but Ed Joyce and Ragheb Aga couldn't hold on in the cordon. The batsman regained composure to his a great shot through the covers after giving himself room to manoeuvre.

White fell advancing to Panesar in the next over though as he missed a ball that bounced. Ben Brown took the ball well and had time to remove the bails with the batsman stranded.

Malik fell leg before to become Collymore's fifth victim and rain then came down with Sussex on the brink of victory. It was only a light burst though and the players were soon back on after an inspection.

Former teammates Panesar and Hoggard had their own duel in the middle after the stoppage with the captain lapping a sweep off his mate to get off the mark.

Panesar operated nicely in both innings and he took 2-28 from his twenty overs sent down in the match. That built on a five-for gained last week and it must be promising for the England selectors to see their former first choice spinner back in the groove.

Buck then hit a beautiful cut that raced through point but the skipper was the last wicket to fall in Collymore's fourteenth over. He edged a ball and Yardy took another catch at first slip to clinch the win, which meant they left with 23 points.

Leicestershire took four points from the contest and will want to respond against Derbyshire in the next Championship game which starts on Tuesday (11am).