Livingstone impresses on debut to overcome Notts bowlers

Liam Livingstone top-scored with 63 not out on his first-class debut for Lancashire as they seized the initiative on the second day of their County Championship match against Nottinghamshire. 

Vital contributions from Alex Davies (55) and Alviro Petersen (48) helped Lancashire to reach 311/8 at close and acquire a useful lead of 69 runs, while Livingstone made 63 on his debut for the Red Rose county, sharing an invaluable unbeaten partnership worth 62 runs with Kyle Jarvis (36*) for the ninth wicket.

Replying to Nottinghamshire's sub-par total of 242, in which debutant Neil Wagner took 6-66, Lancashire had lost opener Karl Brown for no score in the early stages of their innings, facing a potentially difficult spell before the end of Day One.

Having fought hard to endure the final hour of the first day, Haseeb Hameed and Luke Procter continued to battle hard against a ferocious bowling attack. The pair went on to add 57 runs for the second wicket, surviving a testing first hour as the Nottinghamshire bowlers looked to take advantage of the overcast conditions on offer.

After a frustrating first hour, in which both Lancashire batsmen had a handful of edges that avoided the grasp of the slips, the visitors were rewarded for their patience, as both Hameed and Procter (33) fell with the score on 57 in the space of four deliveries.

Procter was first to depart, edging Harry Gurney (1-40) to Steven Mullaney at second slip, before Jake Ball (3-57) encouraged a thin edge through to Chris Read to remove a typically defiant Hameed for 18. Two quick wickets handed the visitors the edge, calling the expertise of Petersen and captain Steven Croft to the fore.

The pair added 60 runs for the fourth wicket either side of lunch to give Lancashire a stronger platform to build upon than the Notts top-order batsmen had yesterday, when the visitors slumped to 98/6 after choosing to bat first. The fifty-partnership was registered before lunch, by which time Lancashire had progressed to 108/3.

Croft (15) was hoping to continue his promising pre-season form, which saw the Lancs skipper record a century against Cambridge MCCU, but he was caught behind by Read, edging a wider delivery from Mullaney (1-33) with the score at 117/4.

Approaching the first half-century of the Championship campaign for Lancashire, Petersen offered a simple return catch to Stuart Broad (3-57) off the inside edge of his bat, falling for 48 after he and Davies had added another 39 runs in the afternoon session.

Debutant Livingstone demonstrated superb application at the crease from the very start of his innings, initially negotiating a tough spell of bowling from Samit Patel, as he and wicketkeeper Davies added a vital partnership worth 72 runs for the sixth-wicket stand.

Davies reached the first fifty of the season for the Red Rose in 89 balls with seven boundaries, as Lancashire progressed to 206/5 by the tea interval, trailing Nottinghamshire's merger total by only 36 runs. The partnership between Davies and Livingstone continued to grow in value, with the pair finding regular boundaries to frustrate the opposition.

Nottinghamshire finally found the breakthrough that they were desperate for when Davies was trapped lbw by Ball () to a delivery that kept unusually low and pinned Davies on the crease. Unable to make an impression with the bat, Wagner returned to the pavilion with only one run to his name, driving a delivery from Broad to Brendan Taylor at extra cover to leave Lancashire on 229/7.

Broad added his third scalp and claimed the bragging rights over his England teammate when he forced James Anderson (6) to edge behind to Read at 249/8. With only a slender lead over the visitors, Livingstone needed support in his cause to extend Lancashire's lead further and he found able support from Jarvis, as they added an invaluable partnership worth 62 runs for the ninth wicket.

Initially, the partnership lasted long enough to allow Livingstone to reach a debut half-century in 87 balls, but the stand continued to develop into a frustrating one for the Nottinghamshire bowlers. As a result of their determination, Lancashire were able to extend their lead to 69 runs by close of play, with Jarvis hitting four boundaries in his unbeaten knock of 37.