County batsmen battle to draw

Final result: Leics 182 (Boyce 45, Benn 4-31, Richardson 3-46) and 238-6d (Boyce 55, Cobb 53, Dippenaar 40*) drew with West Indies 320-6 (Simmons 102, Nash 78, Wyatt 3-42)

Stern resistance from Leicestershire’s batsmen ensured a creditable draw against the West Indies at Grace Road on the final day.

Matthew Boyce (55) and Josh Cobb (53) both made half-centuries as part of a 104-run stand for the second wicket, and they batted the vast majority of the first session to give County a solid platform.

Then, after the tourists claimed three wickets in a cluster either side of lunch, captain Boeta Dippenaar (40*) steadied the ship alongside Wayne White, Carl Crowe and Jigar Naik.

All three of the batsmen made double-figure scores and batted for valuable amounts of time alongside the skipper to stave off the threat of a good visiting attack.

Like the other two days, the game was played out in beautiful conditions. County needed a base to build on, and that was provided by Boyce and Cobb in the opening session after the pair resumed the innings on 51-1.

With no single in the first hour, both men had to see off their respective ends, and they managed to do that, with just the odd scare along the way.

Boyce was fortunate to survive a spilt catch in the slips from the bowling of Lionel Baker at one point.

However, his strong defence and ability to leave the ball, coupled with some aggressive driving, was just what the doctor ordered.

Cobb was also prepared to battle and wait for the bad ball, and statistically scored an identical half-century as Boyce.

Both 50s came from 127 balls with eleven fours, but just when it looked as though a first session had been negotiated without loss, Boyce mistimed a shot which looped straight up to Dale Richards at cover from the bowling of Darren Sammy.

When Cobb nicked through to Denesh Ramdin off Sulieman Benn just after lunch and James Taylor also fell on the drive to the left-arm spinner, the Windies had their tails up, especially as Jim Allenby was unable to bat through injury.

However, Dippenaar was prepared to put in the hard yards, and was well backed by the bowling all-rounders.

White has looked the part with the bat since he joined the club in pre-season, and he made 18 before he was caught by Ramdin off Baker.

Crowe also drove well before playing onto Sammy, but Naik saw things through to the close with his skipper with an impressive innings, and the teams shook hands on the draw shortly after the call for the final hour had been made.