County Championship: Lancashire's Karl Brown hits 96
- From the section Counties
| LV= County Championship Division Two, Emirates Old Trafford (day two) |
| Leicestershire 207: Agathangelou 54, Bailey 4-69, Faulkner 3-53 |
| Lancashire 314-4: Brown 96, Prince 74 not out; Naik 2-126 |
| Lancashire lead by 107 runs with six first innings wickets standing. |
| Lancashire 6 pts, Leicestershire 2 pts |
| Match scorecard |
Karl Brown fell four runs short of a century as Championship Division Two leaders Lancashire took control against Leicestershire at Old Trafford.
Brown, whose only first-class hundred came against Sussex in 2011, struck 96 as the hosts closed day two on 314-4.
Opener Paul Horton made 54 and Ashwell Prince hit an unbeaten 74 as Lancashire built a first-innings lead of 107.
Fast bowler Ben Raine was the only one to keep things tight but spinner Jigar Naik claimed two expensive wickets.
| Golden memories for Brown |
|---|
| Karl Brown's last County Championship century was in April 2011 when he made 114 against Sussex at Aigburth in the first game of Lancashire's title-winning season. |
On the back of two half-centuries in last week's win over Gloucestershire, Brown looked certain to bring up his hundred after batting for almost five hours, but was trapped lbw by Raine to a ball which appeared to keep low.
However, South African Prince, who has already made three hundreds this season, maintained his fine form, striking 10 fours in his fourth half-century of the season,
Leicestershire's only other high point of a tough day in the field came from former Lancashire man Andrea Agathangelou, who pulled off a stunning one-handed catch at slip to dismiss Horton off the bowling of Rob Taylor.
Lancashire batsman Karl Brown:
"We've done what we set out to do and put ourselves in a great position. But there's still two days to go, and we've got to play a lot of good cricket to win this game.
"I'm obviously disappointed to be out for 96. Every batsman sets their sights on scoring hundreds, and I haven't quite got there this time.
"But if I carry on playing the way I am, there is one just around the corner. And I don't think there is anything I could have done with the ball I got. I'm just glad I didn't get it when I was on nought."
Leicestershire spinner Jigar Naik:
"We were unfortunate to get bowled out for 207. We started off well but have been chasing the game from then on.
"The sun was out, which helped them. I felt we stuck at our task well, although we would have liked one or two more wickets.
"I got a long spell and beat the bat a bit, but that sort of thing happens in cricket. The turn will increase, so we need to bat well, get a lead and hopefully I can bowl on that second dig."
