Photos from first day of Somerset Vs. Lancashire LVCC.

Horton shines on tough day for Lancs.

Paul Horton scored 140 in Lancashire’s first innings on the opening day of their visit to Somerset to ensure that the visitors shared the spoils at Taunton in turgid batting conditions.

Lancashire closed on 221-6 after they had won the toss and elected to bat first, but Horton found little support for his cause, as Jos Buttler and Steven Croft both made 18 to share the next highest contribution.

Alex Davies fell for eight with the score at 30-1 in a very slow-moving morning session, but Lancashire entered lunch on 47-1, as they persevered on a green wicket with uneven bounce.

However, Usman Khwaja (9) revoked much of Lancashire’s hard work when he played a mistimed shot to Chris Jones off Alfonso Thomas with Lancashire 50-2.  Horton continued to dig in and was now joined by Ashwell Prince, who had made a career-best 257 not out in Lancashire’s last match, but he was only able to add five before he too was removed by Thomas (2-27).

With runs proving difficult to come by, these wickets had hampered Lancashire’s slow progress, but Croft played a useful anchor role to steady the innings. He too had enjoyed a career-best score against Northamptonshire in Lancashire’s innings victory, but the spin of George Dockrell (1-48) proved too much for him when Craig Kieswetter took a smart catch to remove the all-rounder for 18.

This wicket brought Buttler to the crease and his former county greeted him with a warm reception, but their joy was short lived as the England wicketkeeper smashed two straight sixes either side of tea to support Horton, who had reached his fourth Championship fifty of the season in 115 balls with successive boundaries.

Buttler’s two maximums were however momentary successes, as he struggled to dispatch the ball beyond the infield in his 58-ball stay at the crease and he was eventually bowled by Lewis Gregory, after he and Horton had added 53 for the fifth-wicket.

With Lancashire now 165-5, the hosts had fought their way back into contention with the ball, but Tom Smith (13*) was able to continue the much-needed assistance Horton required of his teammates and his patience was rewarded when he reached his first Championship century of the season in 209 deliveries.

Up until the point where he had registered his hundred, Horton had played with a clam and measured approach, but he knew that he had to be responsible for propelling Lancashire’s target towards something more commanding.

The Lancashire opener applied much more dynamic strokeplay in the closing stages of his innings, which contained 21 fours, before he was judged lbw off Gregory (2-39), ending a 54-run stand with Smith.

With a handful of overs left, this was an untimely wicket for Lancashire to lose, but for Somerset it was the scalp which put the match in the balance, just as Horton had started to look menacing at the crease, as Wayne White (1*) and Smith dealt with the remaining deliveries. 

Roses clash thwarted by persistent rain.

Lancashire’s visit to Headingley was washed-out without a ball being bowled as the Roses rivals were made to share one point each in the Natwest T20 Blast campaign.

This is the second time in as many years where the Lightning have travelled across the Pennines for a point, with Steven Croft earning Lancashire a tie off the last ball in the 2013 season.

Croft was also due to overtake Paul Nixon as the Englishman with the most consecutive appearances in T20 cricket, but was denied the opportunity due to the rain that fell throughout the afternoon, into the early evening.

This point is however useful to Paul Horton and his men, who remain poised to qualify from the North Group after a successful start to the T20 campaign. Lancashire’s next match in this format is next Friday against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, where they will hope to avoid the kind of weather seen today. 

Lancs seal win over Northants.

Kerrigan claimed both of the outstanding wickets
this morning to earn Lancs a vital win.

Lancashire claimed an emphatic win over Northamptonshire to earn only their second win of the Championship campaign by an innings and 200 runs, completing the double over the visitors. 

The hosts needed just two more wickets to seal what had seemed like an inevitable victory after Steven Croft and Ashwell Prince led Lancashire to an insurmountable first innings score of 650-6 and it took just seven balls to make the first breakthrough.

Greame White (6) missed a straight delivery from Simon Kerrigan (4-76) and was trapped lbw with the score at 236-9 and with Northants trailing by 234 runs, they were unable to avoid an innings defeat after Kerrigan ended a late surge from Muhammad Azharullah.

Andrew Hall had made 45 not out in the visitors first innings and made an uneaten half-century in 93 balls. His measured innings was contrasted with Azharullah's brutal approach, as the number-eleven batsman smashed successive sixes off Kerrigan on his way to a quickfire 24 from 20 balls.

It had been the perfect match for Lancashire, one which they needed to win in order to give them a realistic chance of avoiding relegation this season and the game ended when Azharullah top-edged another swipe off Kerrigan, forcing Paul Horton to run backwards from first-slip to take a smart catch, as the visitors were bowled out for 270.

Championship points: Lancashire 24, Northants 1.

Man of the match: Ashwell Prince's unbeaten 257 in Lancashire's first and only innings stood out amongst a series of top quality performances, but after the hosts had fallen to 33-3 on the first day, it was his stand with Steven Croft which not only recovered the innings, but launched it into realms which Lancashire have not seen in a long time.

In a match where Croft made a new career-best score and Glen Chapple claimed his 900th Championship wicket, Lancashire could not have asked for a better performance and this victory gives them the confidence required to defeat somebody other than Northants, who have become whipping boys in Division One after suffering their seventh loss of the season and their fifth by an innings.

Northants on the ropes after Lancs make good progress.

Northants were left lamenting the record-breaking partnership by Croft and Prince as they were made to follow on. 

Lancashire need just two more wickets heading into the final day of their Championship match with Northamptonshire to complete a much-needed victory after the visitors failed to recover from their first-innings collapse.

Northants fell to 231-8 in their second innings after following-on and still trail Lancashire by 239 runs after being bowled out for 180 in their first innings. Glen Chapple completed a five-wicket-haul and Tom Smith continued his good form with the ball, finishing with figures of 4-26 in Northants' first innings.

Andrew Hall (42*) and Muhammad Azharullah (28) added 41 for the final wicket, but their entertaining end to the innings was by no means enough to avoid the humiliation of having to bat again.

With a deficit of 470 runs remaining, the visitors were forced to follow on and made good progress with a 50 partnership for the first wicket between Stephen Peters (41) and James Middlebrook (20), but the loss of three wickets for 12 runs ended any fleeting hopes of making Lancashire bat again.

Smith and Kyle Hogg (1-35) inflicted early damage to remove the two Northants openers as well as Richard Levi, who had made 59 in the visitors first innings. Lancashire made further progress when Wayne White removed Rob Newton (21) before rain saved Northants from a three-day defeat.

In the final hour of play, Lancashire claimed another four wickets as they edged ever-closer to a mandatory win against relegation their relegation rivals. Matt Spriegel (29) was first to depart after he was trapped lbw by Simon Kerrigan (2-52) with the score at 133-5 and Ben Duckett (20) was removed by a smart catch from Steven Croft.

Hall was once again a steady pillar for the visitors and remains unbeaten overnight on 36, but the loss of David Willey (8) and Steven Crook (36) before close of play means that Northants are facing their seventh defeat of the season, four of which will have been by an innings.