Henry Brooke’s six-for on Derbyshire debut helps blow Leicestershire away

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By Webdesk


Derbyshire 144 for 3 (Haider 54) trail Leicestershire 122 (Brookes 6-20) by 22 runs

A best performance from Henry Brookes brought Leicestershire back to ground as Derbyshire dominated the opening day of the LV=Insurance County Championship match at Derby.

The 23-year-old Warwickshire fast bowler marked the first game of a short loan spell by taking 6 for 20 in 12 overs, five of which were maidens, as Leicestershire tumbled from 45 without a loss to 122 all out. On his first appearance of the season, Brookes showed impressive control to record the second-best figures on debut for Derbyshire, who rammed home their advantage by closing at 144 for 3, a lead of 22.

Harry Came and Haider Ali shared a century opening score and although Wiaan Mulder struck twice in an over, it really was Derbyshire’s day.

The Leicestershire batsmen came into the game in good form and looked set for another productive day until Brookes was brought on in attack at City End. Sol Budinger’s innings were bright and breezy, as was the weather, until he launched an extravagant slash into Brookes’s second over and was caught at second slip.

It was not a distinctive shot and produced an astonishing collapse in which five wickets fell for four runs in five overs. Brookes and Luis Reece bowled a consistent line and length, proving too much for a team that had passed 400 three times this season, including one against Derbyshire at Leicester.

Lewis Hill played over the second ball he encountered and Rishi Patel, who had scored two centuries in his previous five innings, was bowled by a ball that Reece swung back just enough.

What followed for the Foxes revived uncomfortable memories of past summers as the innings crumbled with little resistance.

Brookes tricked Colin Ackermann into a loose drive before finding the perimeter of Mulder’s bat with a fine pitch. And all hopes of recovery were dashed when Reece beat Peter Handscomb with another swinging delivery to fully justify Derbyshire’s decision to bowl first.

Leicestershire’s lunchtime thoughts may have turned to last September when Rehan Ahmed scored a brilliant century on this ground to save the match, but the England all-rounder was unable to mount another save this time.

The Derbyshire bowlers renewed their intensity with Sam Conners striking in the fourth over of the afternoon session as Tom Scriven made a brisk drive and Rehan took off in the next over trying to view Brookes and was caught down the leg side. That gave the sailor his first five wicket haul in first-class cricket and he claimed a sixth by letting Michael Finan catch short leg before Conners finished the innings.

Brookes led Derbyshire from the field with his figures second only to Doug Gregory who took 6 for 9 on his debut for the county at Old Trafford in May 1871.

The Leicestershire bowlers could not match his accuracy and leaked runs from the start by bowling too short and wide. Came and Ali put in and by tea they were only 23 runs down, but the visitors regrouped at the interval and bowled much better in the final session.

Mulder made his breakthrough when he trapped Haider lbw trying to pull a ball that stayed low and three balls later, straightened one to hit Brooke Guest’s stump back.

Came, making his first appearance of the season in place of Billy Godleman, who was dropped after a pairing in the previous game, took 49 pounds to a ball from Finan before the officials called off the players shortly before 6pm.



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