Leicestershire164 for 5 (Harris 56; Hill 3-25)) vs Yorkshire
Heavy overnight rain meant a wet outfield and a delayed start until 3.40pm, with Division Two title favorites Yorkshire opting to bowl when they won the toss.
The Foxes, led by the marginal Test left-hander Harris, started brightly as they reached 89 for 1. But the skilful Hill began to turn the tide of proceedings and left the closing score at 164 for 5 from 46 overs. Hill finished the day with three for 25 from nine overs, while Matt Milnes and left-arm spinner Dan Moriarty also struck.
Harris was supported by two highly rated young English talents, Rishi Patel and Louis Kimber, who made 19 and 24 respectively to give Leicestershire an early advantage. England’s Rehan Ahmed later mounted a counter-attack of 28 off 22 balls with six fours before falling LBW to Moriarty.
Milnes claimed the first wicket that fell, uprooting Patel’s off stump with a beauty of delivery, before fellow seamer Hill caught Kimber, Harris and Lewis Hill. While the outfield was damp and caused concerns for umpires Mark Newell and Jack Shantry during the first half of the day, the pitch played beautifully – as is generally the case with this pitch.
The Kookaburra’s strike against the ball is decidedly less threatening than the Dukes, the first in action for the first two rounds of this season. And while a strong wind hopefully dried out the outside, it challenged the bowlers.
Patel, a Lions England tourist before Christmas, and Harris got off to a good start, sharing 43 in 14 overs for the first wicket. Both were strong on either side of the wicket, driving particularly beautifully, although Patel’s stay was cut short in the late teens just as he looked ready.
Milnes broke the partnership with a supporter, who was uprooted from the chest – as aesthetically pleasing a first wicket of the season as you’ll see.
Yorkshire are no strangers to the quality of Harris and Patel. Patel scored a match-winning century in the second innings of last season’s first-round clash at this ground and Harris had scored two centuries in three previous innings against them. One of these came for the Foxes in 50-over cricket and the other for Gloucestershire in the Championship.
Harris survived a run-out scare shortly after on 23 when Milnes missed shy of the striker’s stumps from the gully region, but went on to reach his 93-ball fifty with the 11th and penultimate boundary. By this time, the Foxes were 105 for 2 in the 31st over.
Harris had lost his second-turn partner Kimber, dropped low at third slip by Finn Bean, and was on his way five balls after he lifted his bat. Hill smashed him with extra bounce, and England star Harry Brook held on comfortably at first slip.
Leicestershire’s 110 for 3 in the 32nd over became 115 for 4 in the 34th over when Lewis Hill pushed forward and drove namesake George to second slip.
Yorkshire had now wrestled the advantage from their visitors, and they cemented it when Moriarty trapped Ahmed lbw playing back in just his second over – 159 for five in the 44th over.
But it’s not clear yet with Australia’s Peter Handscomb unbeaten at 20.