Petersen and Prince enjoy record-breaking stand against Glamorgan

An outstanding display from South-African duo Alviro Petersen (205*) and Ashwell Prince (154*) guided Lancashire to an incredible start to their four-day trip to Colwyn Bay, as the visitors closed on 425/2.

Petersen made his highest score of the season and his third century of the summer, sharing an unbeaten partnership with Prince worth 321 runs to give Lancashire a superb opening day against Glamorgan.

Fellow countryman Prince continued an incredible season, recording his fifth hundred to rub salt into Glamorgan’s wounds, as the 38-year-old took his season tally to 1,204 runs. Their partnership was the highest third-wicket stand for Lancashire against Glamorgan, beating the efforts of Graeme Fowler and David Hughes in 1983 and thereby surpassing a 32-year-old record.

Lancashire made a disappointing start after they had won the toss and elected to bat first, losing opening batsman Paul Horton (1) with only six runs on the board when Michael Hogan (1-50) managed to get a ball to keep low and trap Horton lbw on his crease.

Karl Brown continued his fine form with the bat at the top of the order and he went on to reach his sixth fifty in seven innings to lead Lancashire’s recovery after the early loss of Horton. He hit eight fours in all, finding the cover boundary with ease as he and Petersen added 98 runs for the second-wicket partnership.

Petersen hit the first of many Lancashire sixes on the opening day of this fixture, advancing down the track to Dean Cosker (0-51) and lofting the ball out of the ground. Brown then registered yet another half-century in 81 balls in the final over before lunch, by which stage Lancashire had reached 97/1, a remarkable recovery after an early breakthrough for the home side.

Not long had passed after the interval and Brown was keen to continue his promising progress with the bat, but he was perhaps a little too eager when he allowed David Lloyd (1-106) to slip through his defences and bowl him for 54 with the score at 104/2.

Petersen became the second Lancashire batsmen to reach fifty in 89 balls with four boundaries to accompany his maximum off Cosker and compatriot Prince raced to fifty for the ninth time this summer in only 71 balls with seven fours and two sixes.

His first fifty runs took Prince to 1,100 runs for the season and the 100 partnership soon followed. Petersen then recorded his third hundred of the Championship campaign in 163 balls, his tenth boundary taking him to this milestone.

Lancashire accelerated to 233/2 at tea, adding 136 runs in the afternoon session on a beautiful day for batting, with Petersen and Prince adding 129 runs since the loss of Brown just after lunch.

Petersen progressed to his highest score of the season, beating the 115 he made against Derbyshire on the opening day of the season and the 200 partnership soon followed with Prince approaching his century

But it was Petersen who reached the next significant milestone as he accelerated his way to his first score of 150 or more for Lancashire in 222 deliveries, adding another eight fours since reaching his century.

Prince then advanced to a superb century in 132 balls with his 15th boundary taking him to his fifth hundred of the summer. Glamorgan’s misery continued as the duo went onto reach their second 250-run partnership of the season after accumulating 258 for the third wicket against Derbyshire at Southport.

A sumptuous cover drive from Petersen took Lancashire to their full allocation of batting bonus points, by which stage Glamorgan had only taken two wickets and failed to register a single bowling point and a second boundary for Petersen in the same over took the value of the third-wicket stand above 300 runs.

The race to see which batsmen would reach their respective milestone first saw Petersen reach 199 and Prince 149, but it was the latter who reached 150 in 171 balls with 24 fours and two sixes.

Petersen then completed his first double-hundred of the summer in 264 balls with 27 boundaries and one six, with Lancashire finishing on 425/2 an unbeaten stand worth 321 runs on the board.   

Lancashire need 44 more runs to achieve their highest ever third-wicket partnership in first-class cricket and in doing so would beat the 364-run stand made by Michael Atherton and Neil Fairbrother at The Oval in 1993.