Leicestershire Snatch Rare Win at Headingley

Leicestershire Snatch Rare Win at Headingley

Having finished the 2022 season at Old Trafford, champions Surrey made an immediate return to Manchester at the start of 2023, with the county captains having assessed the two sides as the joint favourites to win the pennant in the new campaign. New home captain Keaton Jennings chose to field first, but the visitors made 442, with Cameron Steel hitting 141 not out, his best score for Surrey. Lancashire’s reply of 291 left them fighting to save the match, despite Will Willams contributing his highest score of 30 for the hosts. Sean Abbott took five for 50, his best figures for Surrey. Surrey made brisk work of setting up a declaration, reaching 292 for six in 65 overs, Ben Foakes hitting an unbeaten 103 in 95 balls; Matt Parkinson took five for 120. A target of 444 seemed out of reach, but 108 from Josh Bohannon and a four-hour unbeaten 56 from Steven Croft ensured the match ended in a draw with Lancashire on 247 for three.

The other side attracting some interest as title contenders is Hampshire, who justified their reputation with an eight-wicket win over Nottinghamshire at the Ageas Bowl inside three days. The visitors chose to bat first, but the formidable seam unit of the hosts bowled them out for 185, with Mohammad Abbas taking six for 49. Hampshire’s reply of 231 gave them a handy first-innings lead, before Kyle Abbott took four for 39 to help the away side subside to 177 all out. Chasing 132, Fletcha Middleton hit his second half-century (65) on his Championship debut to ease his side to victory.

You probably shouldn’t write off Essex either, as they showed fine form in beating Middlesex by 97 runs at Lord’s. The visitors were put in to bat, and Dan Lawrence hit 105 in Essex’s total of 266, with home skipper Toby Roland-Jones taking seven for 61. That regulation total soon looked utterly daunting after Middlesex’s top four were all dismissed without scoring (the first time this had happened in a Championship match in 48 years). John Simpson (63) and Ryan Higgins (70, his highest score for the county) put on 127 for the sixth wicket to lead something of a recovery up to 170 in reply. Jamie Porter took six for 35. Essex then made 211 to set a target of 308, but the hosts could manage only 210.

At Canterbury, Kent chose to field first against Northamptonshire and the decision was immediately justified as the visitors were dismissed for just 117. Zak Crawley made an early statement to the England selectors with 91 in Kent’s reply of 222, while Australian new recruit Chris Tremain took five for 44 on his debut for the away side. An unbeaten 116 from Rob Keogh steered Northants up to 331, while Joey Evison took four for 62, his best figures for Kent. Chasing 227, Ben Compton resumed his form of 2022 scoring 114 not out to see his side home by seven wickets.

Poor weather meant there was no play on the first day at Taunton, where Warwickshire were the visitors. Somerset chose to bat first and made 284, with Rob Yates taking four catches. The visitors hit back with 392 – Alex Davies scoring 118 and Sam Hain making 119 – to put them on top. Cameron Bancroft’s second-innings duck isn’t the sort of form he’ll want to show to Australia’s selectors, but Somerset batted out the match to finish on 180 for six in the draw.

The match of the round took place in the Second Division in Leeds where promotion favourites Yorkshire lost to Leicestershire. It was their first victory in the Championship for 18 months and their first at Headingley in 113 years – with just seven balls and three wickets to spare. The away side chose to field first and then conceded 517 runs at more than five an over. Finlay Bean made his maiden century (118), and was the first to reach three figures for the season. Dawid Malan followed it up with 132, and Matt Milnes hit 75 on his debut for the White Rose. There was some joy for the bowlers, as Josh Hull struck with his fourth delivery on his first-class debut, removing Adam Lyth. Leicestershire kept themselves in the tie with 415 in reply, Peter Handscomb making 112 on his debut for the county and young star Rehan Ahmed hitting 85.

In their second innings, Yorkshire declared on 286 for eight, new recruit Shai Hope top-scoring with 83, while James Wharton made 52, his maiden half-century. A target of 389 in 87 overs seemed daunting, but Rishi Patel provided the bedrock with 125 (his highest score). However, when Chris Wright joined Handscomb the score was 327 for seven with just 9.1 overs to chase down the final 62 runs. Wright led the way, blasting 40 not out in 32 balls, to secure a famous and spectacular win in a match that had provided 1610 runs for 35 wickets – it was the highest match aggregate for any match involving Leicestershire and the second highest for Yorkshire. Leicestershire’s fourth-innings score of 392 for seven was just 2 runs short of their record successful run chase in the Championship, set in 1947.

At Hove, Sussex edged home in a gripping contest with Durham. The visitors were put in to bat and Alex Lees and Michael Jones put on 142 for the first wicket as Sussex’s bowling woes appeared to continue from last year. But new signing Nathan McAndrew nipped in with five for 85 to wrap up the innings for 376. For Durham, Ben McKinney made his debut and scored 35. New Sussex skipper Cheteshwar Pujara led from the front, making 115 out of his side’s reply of 335. The hosts gave themselves a great chance when Henry Crocombe nipped in with a career-best four for 47 and Fynn Hudson-Prentice (in as a concussion replacement for George Garton) took four for 27, his best figures for Sussex. All out for 189, Durham had set a target of 231. At 193 for five, a win seemed almost certain for Sussex, but three wickets fell for 15 runs only for Oli Carter and Jack Carson to see their side home by two wickets.

Worcestershire put the hosts in to bat at Derby and made steady progress to dismiss Derbyshire for 321. At 256 for six in reply, the game was in the balance before Matthew Waite tipped the balance with his maiden century (109 not out) to help his side up to 473 all out; Zak Chappell took five for 69 on his debut for Derbyshire. The home side responded well enough, making 343 all out, but it wasn’t enough as the visitors needed just 192 for victory, and 104 not out from Jake Libby saw them home by eight wickets.

At Cardiff, Gloucestershire were put in to bat and stumbled to 165 all out, despite 59 from Marcus Harris, as Timm van der Gugten took five for 26. Kiran Carlson (106) and Billy Root (117) were the main pillars of Glamorgan’s reply of 404, which put them firmly in charge. However, Harris counterattacked, making 148, before skipper Graeme van Buuren added an unbeaten 110, eventually declaring on 569 for seven – with Glamorgan keeper Chris Cooke not conceding a bye in that total. The hosts had a notional target of 331 but the match ended as a draw with them having reached 110 for three.