Brown innings leads Lancashire response against Leicestershire

Karl Brown lead Lancashire’s response on the second day of their LV= County Championship match against Leicestershire, making 96 as the home side finished on 314/4 with a lead of 107 runs.

Half-centuries from Ashwell Prince (74*) and Paul Horton (54) added to Lancashire’s healthy progress, but Brown was denied what would have been only his second first-class hundred for Lancashire and his first since 2011 against Sussex at Liverpool.

Leicestershire were left with the regrettable decision of batting first in overcast conditions after they were bowled out for 207 on Day One, but the misery of captain Mark Cosgrove was compounded further as Lancashire’s batsmen enjoyed a pleasant day before bad light made life difficult in the final session.

The Red Rose enjoyed a brilliant first session as openers Horton and Brown added 91 runs for the first wicket. Horton made better progress and he went to his fourth half-century of the summer in 85 balls to give Lancashire the ideal platform to make a big total.

Having batted brilliantly all morning – reaching 500 runs for the season in his innings – Horton attempted a flamboyant drive outside the off-stump and was victim of a stunning one-handed catch by Andrea Agathangelou off Rob Taylor (1-43) in the final over before the interval, with only three balls left before the players were due to leave the field.

Alviro Petersen assumed a confident role at the crease adding 46 before he fell to Jigar Naik for 46, as he and Brown added a further 83 runs for the second-wicket stand.

Brown progressed to his third half-century in as many innings just after the interval, reaching this milestone in 104 balls to continue Lancashire’s strong progress.

Petersen and Brown both increased the flow of runs after the break, but Petersen walked across the line of a delivery from Naik and was out lbw four runs shy of a half-century, with Lancashire progressing to 174/2.

The score moved to 200 as Lancashire collected their first batting point in the last over before the next interval arrived and Brown progressed to 80 with a back-foot drive through the covers, as he approached three figures.

Brown continued to make good progress with Prince – who was involved in an altercation with Charlie Shreck towards the end of play – adding 74 more runs for the third-wicket partnership as the sunlight faded and the gloomy conditions returned.

A towering six over long-on took Brown into the nineties and he showed no sign of allowing the pressure of the occasion to prevent him from playing expansive strokes against a dejected Leicestershire attack.

 Brown’s back-to-back fifties guided Lancashire to a potentially tense victory at Bristol last week and he, once again, strengthened his claim to secure the role of opening batsman alongside Horton on a long-term basis, only to fall four runs shy of a hundred when he was trapped lbw by Ben Raine (1-30) by a ball which kept incredibly low.

With a solid platform in place, Prince and Steven Croft (22) were given leave to play their shots, although this was to be the undoing of captain Croft who chipped a delivery from Naik (2-126) to Atif Sheikh at mid-off with the home side moving to 303/4.

Prince moved to a half-century for the seventh time this summer in 67 balls with seven fours to improve Lancashire’s already respectable total and Alex Davies (7*) ensured that, as tempers began to flare towards the end of play, that the South-African did not lose his cool as Lancashire ended the day in a strong position despite the state of the light by close of play.