Leicestershire bowled out for 78 as Lancs claim victory

Leicestershire were bowled out for just 78 in 30.3 overs as Lancashire claimed a 244-run victory on the final day of their LV= County Championship match at Grace Road. 

Tom Bailey claimed career-best figures of five wickets for 12 runs in a nine over spell to help reduce Leicestershire to 29/7, as the hosts lost seven wickets for nine runs in the space of 46 balls.

The home side collapsed to 41/8 at tea after they had been set 323 by Lancashire, who declared on 203/5 after Ashwell Prince spearheaded their second innings with 76 not out.

Leicestershire are now without a win in their last 37 Championship fixtures, while Lancashire maintained their position at the top of the second division with their third win of the season.

Lancashire started the day with a useful lead of 150 runs and they batted superbly in the morning session to set up a winning position against the second division's whipping boys. Prince and Alex Davies (54) added 107 for the fifth-wicket as the visitors scored at a good pace to enhance their lead, but more rain signalled an early lunch as the weather threatened to have the final say.

Overnight South-African duo, Alviro Petersen (34) and Prince began with a positive approach, but the loss of Petersen and first-innings centurion, Steven Croft, sedated Lancashire's approach to a much more conservative one, as they opted to build a lead at their own pace.

Prince added 76 not out as Leicestershire were set 323 to win on the final day.

Petersen started the brighter of the two batsmen and hit several boundaries to get Lancashire up and running on the final day at Grace Road, but it was he was first to go when he stepped into an in-swinging delivery from Ben Raine (1-37) and was struck in front of middle stump with the score at 71/3.

Croft (1) departed with just one more run on the scoreboard when he was also out lbw, this time to Clint McKay, and this caused Lancashire to go into their shell for a brief spell, as they sought to eliminate any possibility of losing the game.

Prince and Davies (54) have been up their with Lancashire's most consistent performers with the bat this season and their defiance halted a brief spell of success for the home side, in what was otherwise a dismal day for captain Mark Cosgrove and his teammates.

The pair added 107 runs in 18.1 overs and the pace at which they scored these runs allowed Lancashire to secure a comfortable position in the match, as they edged their way towards a declaration. 

Prince registered his fourth half-century of the season in 58 deliveries, but the players were soon running off the pitch as the rain attempted to upset Lancashire's rally for victory, signalling an early lunch.

The visitors made their intentions perfectly clear when play resumed, with Prince hitting the first ball after the rain break for yet another boundary, but Davies became the biggest threat for Leicestershire, scoring at a run-a-ball to reach his fourth fifty of the season. 

A typically busy player at the crease, Davies continued to demonstrate his ability to play aggressively when required, but he also ran between the wickets with a real sense of urgency with Prince, who is arguably the quickest play in Lancashire's ranks despite being 37 years of age.

Davies made his fourth fifty of the season in a
107-run partnership with Ashwell Prince.

Shortly after reaching his half-century, Davies picked out Cosgrove at mid-on as McKay (2-54) collected his second wicket of the innings. Lancashire's attempt to measure the perfect declaration will no doubt have frustrated many of the travelling fans, but it was to be a well-timed declaration from the Red Rose.

Prince is already approaching 600 runs this season and his innings of 76 not out helped Lancashire to post a total of 203/5 before the visitors eventually declared, with Jordan Clark unbeaten on 12.

Leicestershire were set 323 in 59 overs to win the game and at the start of their innings there was a sense that the home side were very much interested in a fourth-innings run chase. In fact, at 20 for no loss, Leicestershire would have been thinking that they had made a relatively good start, but what followed dealt irreparable damage to any notion of victory, or saving the draw, for that matter.

The home side went on to lose six wickets for as many runs and seven wickets for nine runs as Bailey and Kyle Jarvis (2-10) bowled superbly on a pitch which continued to offer plenty for the seam bowlers.

Lewis Hill (10) was the first man to fall in a procession of wickets, when he edged to Paul Horton at first slip off the bowling of Bailey and Horton's catch was made that much better by the fact that Davies had dived across him, fortunately doing just enough not to get in the way of Horton's attempts to hang on to a low catch.

Since the start of 2013, only one batsman has scored more runs in the second division than Ned Eckersley and his wicket was therefore a prized one for Lancashire, but Bailey struck in his next over to remove the dangerous Leicestershire batsman for no score.

Lancashire claimed six wickets for six runs after the home side had made 20/0 in the fourth innings.

Having batted so well in Leicestershire's first innings, Cosgrove (1) represented the home side's greatest hope for saving the game, but he was out top-edging a hook shot into the gloves of Davies, as Jarvis claimed his first wicket of the innings. 

It was a truly terrible shot from the Leicester captain, who tried to pull out of a short-arm jab and when he saw the ball fly up in the air, he started to walk before Davies had the chance to catch the ball, as the hosts slipped to 21/3. 

Jarvis had rather been gifted his first wicket and he took his season tally to 30 wickets when he had the out-of-form Neil Pinner removed in similar fashion to Cosgrove, as Pinner fell for a pair when he was caught by Simon Kerrigan at long-leg.

This was the fourth wicket to fall for just five runs and, when Angus Robson edged a Bailey delivery to Croft at second slip, Leicestershire's nightmare continued with the scoreboard now reading 26/5. 

This then became 26/6 when Bailey claimed his fourth wicket, giving him his best figures for Lancashire as he had Ben Raine out for a duck with a superb in-swinging delivery that nipped back and took out the all-rounder's off-stump. 

Bailey's figures of 5-12 was a career-best.

This was Lancashire's sixth wicket in 35 deliveries and Bailey continued a rampant spell for the visitors when he secured his first five-wicket-haul for the Red Rose, encouraging Niall O'Brien (3) to edge to Croft, with the home side capitulating to 29/7.

Bailey was eventually rested and replaced by Nathan Buck, with Clark also coming into the attack for Jarvis and it was Clark (1-19) who claimed the eighth wicket when Tom Wells (2) got an inside-edge onto his middle stump. 

Entering the final session of an enthralling four-day encounter, Leicestershire were in a miserable position at 41/8 and, were it not for the efforts of McKay, the hosts could have easily been all out for less than 50.

The Australian redeemed a modicum of pride with his innings of 24, but the fact that extras was the next highest scorer with 17 was a reflection of how badly Leicestershire had gone about their approach. 

That is not to say that Lancashire did not bowl well and rather fittingly it was Buck (2-22), a former Leicestershire representative, who put the home side out of their misery, claiming the final two wickets after tea.

McKay's spirited effort came to an end when he was the next to go, top-edging an attempted hook into the leg-side, although Davies had to run more than 20 feet to take the catch. Lancashire wrapped up their third victory of the season as Leicestershire were bowled out for 78 when Charlie Shreck edged to Prince, giving Buck his fifth wicket of the match.

Lancashire remain top of Division Two on 87 points, with a 31-point gap over Gloucestershire, who were responsible for inflicting a humbling defeat on the Red Rose last week.

LV= County Championship points: Leicestershire 4, Lancashire 23.