| LV= County Championship Division Two, Incora County Floor, Derby (day three) |
| Leicestershire 122 & 281: Hill 63, Handscomb 62, Patel 58, Wright 49*; Watt 3-35, Conners 3-75 |
| Derbyshire 350-7 dec: Du Plooy 94, Madsen 67; Mulder 5-67 & 0-0 |
| Derbyshire (11 pts) drew with Leicestershire (7 pts) |
| Match scorecard |
Chris Wright rescued Leicestershire and denied Derbyshire a primary victory of the season earlier than the County Championship match at Derby resulted in farce.
When Leicestershire have been bowled out for 281, a lead of 53, there have been solely three overs left and with two to be taken off for the break between innings, that will have left Derbyshire solely six balls to attain the runs.
However confusion over the principles left the umpires and groups believing there have been three overs to bowl and a 20 minute delay adopted earlier than the sport ended with Colin Ackermann racing by means of an over to keep away from Leicestershire dropping some extent for a sluggish over charge.
Derbyshire’s head of cricket Mickey Arthur stated: “The umpires miscalculated the quantity of overs. They stated we had three left and it turned out we had one left.
“We thought we had 18 balls there and we have been going to offer it a full crack nevertheless it was a bit more durable off six.
“I believe they have been calculating simply to ensure they’d acquired it proper and clearly it was proper that there was just one left.”
Leicestershire’s head coach Paul Nixon stated: “We have been ringing the ECB from about eight overs left to get readability on proceedings.
“We all the time thought it was the over you are in plus two which can be taken off. The ECB make a whole lot of rule modifications for the higher of the sport yearly and I did not hear of that one.
“Peter Such (the match referee) had been chatting with the umpires on the market, they have been slightly bit gray on the matter and wished to ensure they’d absolute readability.
“We simply wished to resolve it, we do not all know the whole lot, there’s a whole lot of guidelines these guys should know and the good factor is that they have been calm when the stress was on and made the suitable selections.”
Wright’s unbeaten 49 from 112 balls steered Leicestershire to security, sharing an eighth-wicket stand of 81 from 130 balls with Peter Handscomb who scored 62.
After they got here collectively, Derbyshire have been heading for victory after the guests collapsed within the afternoon, slipping to 181-7 at tea, nonetheless 47 behind.
However the decrease order dug in to disclaim the house aspect a primary win of the season and protect Leicestershire’s unbeaten begin.
Any late drama seemed unlikely after Rishi Patel, 58, and Lewis Hill, 63, shared a second-wicket stand of 113 from 198 balls.
However the momentum shifted when Patel was dismissed within the second over of the afternoon session, taking part in at a ball from Sam Conners that moved away earlier than Hill edged Luis Reece to slide.
When Colin Ackermann drove again a return catch in Reece’s subsequent over, the pressure was very a lot with Derbyshire though Leicestershire had two Check match batters on the crease in Wiaan Mulder and Handscomb.
The pair dug in for 14 overs however Mulder, who has didn’t get previous 11 this season, performed on attempting to chop Watt after going through 49 balls for seven.
England all-rounder Rehan Ahmed had scored an exciting century at Derby within the ultimate match of 2022 to save lots of the sport however his reckless dismissal pushed Leicestershire nearer to defeat.
Ahmed charged down the pitch to drive Watt, missed by a ways, and was bowled.
Not less than Tom Scriven was crushed by an excellent ball from Conners which got here again with the arm to knock out his center stump on the stroke of tea.
If Derbyshire thought they’d damaged Leicestershire’s resistance, Handscomb and Wright made them assume once more by wiping out the arrears with a mix of decided defence and selective aggression.
They added 81 and confronted 130 balls earlier than Conners struck with the second new ball when he tempted Handscomb right into a drive which Wayne Madsen held at second slip.
Michael Finan and Wright survived one other 31 balls till Henry Brookes bowled Finan with one which saved low however Josh Hull stayed with Wright lengthy sufficient to make sure Leicestershire have been protected earlier than the sport descended into chaos.
Report equipped by the ECB Reporters’ Community.
