A high scoring game between Leicestershire and Gloucestershire ended in a draw in the County Championship Division Two, at the Grace Road, Leicester in England.
The match was interrupted by rain throughout, which was one of the main reasons of a drawn encounter. The visitors batted just once in the match, scoring a massive total of 504 runs whereas Leicestershire managed 323 and 245 in their respective innings.
The toss was won by the Gloucestershire skipper, Alex Gidman, and he had no hesitation in batting first. The wicket was dry and appeared to have no assistance for the bowlers. However, the continuous showers made life a touch difficult for the batsmen in the middle.
The visitors lost their opening batsman, Ian Cockbain, on the second delivery of the match and there was no run on the board. His partner in the top order, Richard Coughtrie, offered some resistance and collected 26 runs before being dismissed. His wicket was followed by, Chris Taylor, who just managed nine runs in hisshort stay at the crease.
Things looked bad for Gloucestershire, as they lost three wickets for just 88 runs on the board. However, promising Kiwi youngster, Kane Williamson, batted superbly to guide his team out of trouble. He had a highest score of 26 for his County team in the previous two games played, but managed to score a brilliant ton against Leicestershire.
Williamson struggled a bit in the early part of his innings, but managed to hold things together later. He scored 149 runs with the help of 23 fours and was applauded for his valiant innings.
Gidman also shared the pressure with the New Zealand batsman, as the pair constructed 196 runs for the fourth wicket. The visitors’ skipper top scored the innings with 168 runs and declared the innings once the team got past 500.
Jigar Naik was the pick of the bowlers for the home team, dismissing four batsmen. He got good support from his skipper, Matthew Hoggard, who took three wickets.
In reply, Leicestershire got off to a brilliant start to their innings. Openers, Will Jefferson and Mathew Boyce, put together 195 runs for the first wicket and the match was headed towards a draw.
Boyce scored a terrific century and ended up with 119 runs, but his opening partner fell just 10 runs short of a ton. The departure of both the openers saw some drama for the hosts, as wickets started to tumble. The middle-order failed miserably, as the entire team was bundled up for 323 runs.
Ian Saxelby bowled exceptionally for the visitors, taking four wickets in the innings and he had to come out to bowl for the second consecutive time, as the follow on was imposed on Leicestershire.
Although none of the Leicestershire batsmen managed to make a big impact in the second innings, small contributions from all the batsmen took the score to 245 for five.
Only wicketkeeper batsman, Paul Dixey, was able to score a half-century and remained unbeaten on 72 before the final day’s play was called off by the umpires.
Will Gidman bowled well for his team in the second innings, taking three wickets.
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