Paul Horton made his first century in 12 innings as he led Lancashire's response on the second day of their LV= County Championship match against Gloucestershire, who ended with a huge first innings total of 388 at Emirates Old Trafford.
Horton (134*) and Ashwell Prince (57) shared 134 runs for the third-wicket partnership as the Red Rose responded well to Gloucestershire daunting display with the bat, before closing on 276/6 still trailing by 112 runs.
Lancashire suffered a similar collapse in the evening session as their opponents, losing four wickets for 58 runs as Gloucestershire ended the day with the edge over their hosts.
The visitors enjoyed a strong first day after Chris Dent's hundred spearheaded their first innings, giving them a strong overnight score of 322/7. Gloucestershire added 66 runs in the morning session to frustrate Lancashire further after seamers Kyle Jarvis (4-121) and Peter Siddle (3-55) continued their impressive display with the ball from yesterday.
Jarvis took his season tally to 22 wickets, the most in the second division, with the wickets of Kieran Noema-Barnett and David Payne (18) as Gloucstershire's tail added useful runs to prolong Lancashire's misery. The task for the visitors was to reach 350 in the morning session and they did so when Payne squeezed a three down to third man off Jarvis.
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| Jarvis claimed four wickets as Gloucestershire were all out for 388. |
The departure of Craig Miles did give Gloucestershire a minor scare at 346/8 when he was trapped lbw by Siddle for 16, but the tail-enders were resilient and were able to add useful runs despite the ferocity and accuracy of Siddle and indeed Jarvis, who claimed the final two wickets.
Payne's innings came to an end when he was caught and bowled by Jarvis, giving the Zimbabwean fast bowler his third scalp of the innings when he took a sharp return catch. Gloucestershire's search for 400 and their final batting bonus point gained momentum with Noema-Barnett and Payne (18*) playing fluently against Lancashire's frontline bowlers, but the innings was ended when the former top-edged to Nathan Buck at third man.
Luis Reece was in need of a big score when he opened Lancashire's reply with Horton and he initially played a very accomplished role for the hosts. His determination to dig in was rewarded with a good platform after managing to survive the initial spell from Payne and Miles, but the introduction of Liam Norwell proved to be crucial as he struck with his eleventh ball to remove the Lancashire opener for 16 with a bottom edge through to Gareth Roderick.
Since scoring a century in the first match of season against Derbyshire, Alviro Petersen's form has not been nearly as good for Lancashire and this slump continued when he was bowled for 7 by Miles with the score at 73/2.
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| Horton scored his first hundred in 12 innings. |
Horton proved to be the leading run-scorer despite the early departures of Reece and Petersen, but he soon found more than able company in Prince as the pair established a strong partnership, adding 134 runs at a good pace to erode Gloucestershire's first-innings lead.
The Lancashire opener was in good form coming into this knock after scoring 49 against Northamptonshire last week an innings which saw another impressive stand with South-African Prince and the duo continued their formidable partnership on home soil. Prince's second century of the season made him the division's leading run-scorer coming into this fixture and the veteran batsman did what comes naturally to him as Lancashire reached 194/2 at tea.
Horton responded well to the wicket of Petersen as he soon reached a half-century in 94 deliveries and despite Prince's assured presence at the crease the Lancashire opener continued to dominate the scoring. The pair registered the hundred-partnership just before tea with Horton approaching a hundred of his own, in an innings containing 16 boundaries, thus far
With the interval approaching, Horton registered his 21st first-class century and his first since he scored 114 against Durham last season, reaching this milestone in 150 balls. The Lancashire opener entered tea unbeaten on 104 and although Prince had worked his way towards fifty the 37-year-old had to wait until after the break to reach his half-century.
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| Prince is the leading run-scorer in the second division. |
Prince completed the job when he reached fifty with his seventh four straight after tea, driving Payne for two boundaries in quick succession as he continued his fine form after scoring 153 last week against Northants at Wantage Road.
However, the second of these boundaries was immediately followed by a wild swipe outside the off-stump by Prince, who was caught behind off Miles (2-51) with the score at 207/3. Although Horton had been the predominant run-scorer for the hosts, the departure of Prince did cause Lancashire's scoring to slow down considerably, as their stand-in captain Steven Croft came to the crease.
Gloucestershire's dominance with the bat was halted yesterday in the evening session and Lancashire experienced a similar blip, losing three wickets for 40 runs when Croft was adjudged lbw to Noema-Barnett for 20 and Gloucestershire claimed wickets in successive deliveries when Alex Davies was run out for no score.
Captain Croft had struggled to achieve the same assurance as Horton and Prince and he was trapped on the crease by New-Zealand born Noema-Barnett (1-46) with the score at 247/4. The dependable Davies gifted the visitors another breakthrough when he set-off for a risky single only to be sent back by Horton and a direct-hit from Will Tavare at backward point gave Davies his first single-figure score of the season, as his short stay at the crease was ended in disastrous fashion.
Lancashire replicated the difficult spell experienced by their opponents yesterday evening, losing four wickets for 58 runs when Jordan Clark (7) was out lbw to Norwell after not offering a shot with the score at 265/6. Norwell had earlier dislocated his finger but he finished with figures of 2 for 62, with Peter Siddle unbeaten on six.
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