Leicestershire 124 for 4 (Horton 50) lead Durham 117 (Wright 5-30) by seven runs
Leicestershire’s seamers bowled outstandingly to dismiss Durham for just 117, their lowest score of the season, after the visitors had won the toss and chosen to bat first in the Specsavers County Championship match at the Fischer County Ground.
Chris Wright was the pick of the attack, picking up 5 for 30, his first five-wicket return since joining the county from Warwickshire at the end of last season. By the close of play Leicestershire had passed their opponents’ score and begun to build a first-innings lead, captain Paul Horton leading the way with a half-century.
Mohammad Abbas, who took ten wickets in this fixture last season, was first to strike for the Foxes, trapping Alex Lees leg before with an inswinging delivery which umpire Paul Baldwin adjudged would have gone on to hit leg stump.
Durham skipper Cameron Bancroft and Gareth Harte added 34 for the second wicket before Harte also went leg before, Wright seaming the ball back in to hit the right-hander in front of middle. Jack Burnham chipped a leg-stump delivery from Will Davis gently into the hands of Hassan Azad at square leg and Wright struck again with a fine delivery which Graham Clark could only edge to Colin Ackermann at second slip.
When Liam Trevaskis went leg before to a Neil Dexter inswinger Durham had lost four wickets for 19 runs, but Bancroft remained unbeaten, going in for lunch on 36, only to fall to the first ball after the break, edging an Abbas delivery to wicketkeeper Lewis Hill.
Ned Eckersley and Ben Raine, both of whom were Leicestershire players last season, fought hard to add 26 for the seventh wicket before Raine, looking to force Wright through the off side, inside-edged the delivery into his stumps.
Nathan Rimmington drove airily at Wright and edged a catch behind, Eckersley gave Wright the charge and succeeded only in lobbing a simple catch to mid-off and Chris Rushworth swung across the line at Davis to go leg before.
Raine did strike a blow for Durham before tea, dismissing the prolific Azad leg before with a full delivery, and the allrounder continued to offer the biggest threat on his former home ground, persuading Dexter to edge to second slip, before Horton, having reached 50 from 75 balls, was bowled by a fine delivery from Rushworth which came back to hit the top of off stump.
Raine then picked up a third wicket, Mark Cosgrove leg before to a delivery which kept very low, but Ackermann and Harry Dearden saw Leicestershire through to the close without furher loss.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo