County Championship 2022 Division II | Fifties from Patel, Azad keep Leicestershire in fine state despite several collapses
Leicestershire ended Day 1 of the County Championship Division II fixture against Glamorgan on 285/8 at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.
Leicestershire had a stable start with Hasan Azad and Samuel Evans at the crease, who had a cautious start and negated the experienced pacers, Michael Hogan and Michael Neser, well on a green-top surface.
The opening duo toiled the bowlers hard to get wickets, as the bowling team could not get the better of the wicket till Lunch. However, the first breakthrough was finally provided by the part-time spin of Marnus Labuschagne.
Evans charged down the track to Labuschagne but completely misjudged the line and length of the ball and was stumped by Chris Cooke in the 36th over of the innings. This brought Rishi Patel into the crease, who was included in the XI after a brilliant performance for the 2nd XI team last week.
Azad and Patel stitched a stand of 62 runs and finely steered the team, but an unfortunate run-out dismissal led to Azad’s dismissal on 64.
Until the tea break, Foxes were in an advantageous position with a score of 168/2. But, in the 65th over, Neser’s terrific with his accurate throw from the mid-on ran Louis Kimber out.
With the sun beating down, another mini-collapse was initiated as Labuschagne dismissed Wiaan Mulder (16 off 27) and Scott Steel (0 off 1) on subsequent balls.
Although wicket-keeper Harry Swindells impressed everyone with his delightful boundaries and stitched a crucial partnership with Patel.
But then another twist in the tale occurred, as Neser used the new ball well to breach the defence of the wicketkeeper-batter, and a few overs later, Harris induced an edge off Patel to bowl him on the score of 82 off 164 balls.
Brief Scores on Day 1
Leicestershire - 285/8 (96) (1st innings)
Rishi Patel 82, Hasan Azad 64
Marnus Labuschagne 3/65 (17), Michael Neser 1/27 (16)
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