Lancashire Vs. Leicestershire LVCC day two.

Horton performance elevates Lancashire.

Paul Horton finished the second day unbeaten on
150 - his fourth for Lancashire.

Lancashire’s stand-in captain Paul Horton led the Division Two leader’s pursuit for promotion, scoring an unbeaten 150 as Lancashire closed on a commanding total of 344-4.

This, Horton’s second successive century for Lancashire, proved to sink Leicestershire, who are unlikely to salvage a great deal from this fixture in their attempts to move off the bottom of the table.

A strong start on a rain-affected first day from Horton and partner, Luis Reece, continued with the same flamboyance and conviction throughout the morning session, with both batsmen reaching fifties before lunch.

Horton was the first to do so, claiming his fourth half-century from 73 balls, but Reece soon followed with a much slower effort, claiming his seventh successive fifty from 117 balls, and by doing so equaled the

Lancashire record set by Geoff Pullar 64 years ago.

Lancashire’s third hundred-run opening stand of the season, all of which have come from this pairing, was eventually broken when Reece edged to Greg Smith off Oliver Freckingham, as he failed to add any further runs after making fifty.

Ashwell Prince was only able to add 14 to the hosts total before he fell deservedly to Ben Raine, but fellow overseas player Simon Katich steadied affairs with a typically stunning penultimate innings, before his return to Australia for the Champions League.

Katich, who now has an average of 73.13 in this season’s County Championship, smashed the third, and comfortably the fastest fifty of the match from just 54 deliveries, striking ten boundaries before he fell for 56 to a stunning catch, once again from Smith, with James Sykes taking the wicket.

All the while Horton persisted with a captain’s innings, passing his hundred in 193 balls in an innings currently containing 22 Fours.

Accompanied by Andrea Agathangelou (46), Horton pressed on after tea, reaching his fourth score of 150 or more for the Red Rose, scoring 362 runs in six innings since his return from injury.

The pair added 107 for the fourth wicket, before Agathangelou was caught behind, allowing Sykes to finish with figures of 2-61.

Lancashire would surely have extended this already daunting lead further, but bad light ensured that Leicestershire could break from the onslaught, which they, seemingly, could do little to prevent.