Leicestershire secure draw at Trent Bridge with record 106‑run final‑wicket stand

Rothesay County Championship, Division One, Trent Bridge (day four)

Nottinghamshire 451‑8 dec: Haynes 159 & 178‑1 dec: Hameed 109*

Leicestershire 365: Hull 97, Scriven 54; Pennington 5‑49

Notts (15 pts) drew with Leics (11 pts)

Leicestershire’s Tom Scriven and Josh Davey added 106 runs for the last wicket, halting Nottinghamshire’s push for a result on the final day and influencing both ends of the Division One table.

Nottinghamshire reached 178 for 1 in their second innings when the draw was agreed at 16:20 BST, after Leicestershire posted 365 in response to the hosts’ 451 for 8 declared.

Captain Haseeb Hameed made an unbeaten 109, his second century of the season, though Leicestershire bowled only spinners to avoid a slow‑over penalty, keeping the situation relatively uncomplicated.

Leicestershire, who face relegation to Division Two after securing promotion last season, trailed by 201 runs after the first innings and were seven wickets down overnight, raising hopes Nottinghamshire could enforce the follow‑on and still bowl them out.

Early on, Leicestershire slipped to 259 for 9, still 43 runs short of the target to avoid the follow‑on, suggesting the scenario might unfold.

However, inspired by Josh Hull’s third‑day heroics, Scriven (54) and Davey (49 not out) built a record‑breaking partnership for this fixture, forcing Nottinghamshire to bat again.

Dillon Pennington claimed 5 for 49 and debutant Tom Giles took 3 for 52 for Nottinghamshire, the defending champions, who slipped to second place with 163 points, four adrift of leaders Somerset. Warwickshire follow a point behind.

The battle at the bottom includes all teams from fifth‑placed Glamorgan downward. Leicestershire sit in the relegation zone with 113 points, just seven behind Yorkshire (120), while Essex have 122 and Surrey and Glamorgan each hold 124.

Pennington recorded his second five‑wicket haul of the season by dismissing Ian Holland at slip, and Giles, making his first‑class debut after replacing Brett Hutton, took his third wicket when he bowled Ben Cox leg‑before.

By the time off‑spinner Freddie McCann removed Scriven, only 43 overs remained, too few for a positive result; the match had lost much of its opening day to weather, compounding Leicestershire’s difficulty.

Scriven and Davey’s partnership set a new record for a last‑wicket stand in this fixture, surpassing the previous best of 103 made by Sam Staples and Bill Voce for Nottinghamshire at Aylestone Road in 1933.

Leicestershire’s survival chance rested largely on Josh Hull’s innings of 97 as a night‑watchman on day three, which left them within striking distance of averting the follow‑on at the start of the final day.

After watching their seam colleague bat for over five hours, Scriven and Davey showed they could also thrive under pressure, holding out for nearly two and a half hours before Scriven was finally dismissed.

Leicestershire still had to address Nottinghamshire’s over‑rate issue, which was three overs short in the first innings.

Consequently, Nottinghamshire’s second innings consisted solely of spin bowling, featuring Sheridon Gumbs and Hamza Shaikh, both of whom had not previously played first‑class cricket.

Facing this spin attack, Hameed, who has struggled for form this season, passed fifty for only the third time in 19 innings before completing his 21st first‑class century, scoring 109 off 109 balls with nine fours and a six.

The only wicket fell to McCann, who opened the innings in place of Ben Slater (absent all day), being caught behind off occasional off‑spinner Rishi Patel.

Source link