Four half-centuries ensure hosts post imposing first-day total at Grace Road
ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay11-Apr-2025Half-centuries from Sol Budinger, Ian Holland, Peter Handscomb and Logan Van Beek helped Leicestershire reach a commanding 423 for nine after Derbyshire had asked them to bat first on the first day of their Rothesay County Championship match in Leicester.The East Midlands rivals are both looking to build on winning starts to their Division Two campaigns. Derbyshire, who beat Gloucestershire at home last week, bowled well at times but found their errors punished ruthlessly by aggressive Leicestershire batting.Leicestershire, victors at Glamorgan in the opening round, built partnerships right down the innings, with all-rounder van Beek, the Netherlands international making his debut, impressing at No 8. New Zealand’s Blair Tickner took two wickets on his return to Derbyshire.Budinger set the tone for Leicestershire from the start, with two of his first five balls faced finding the boundary, the outfield as fast as it is in midsummer as the current run of sunny weather continued.He had an unfamiliar opening partner in Rehan Ahmed, who took the place of the injured Rishi Patel at the top of the order as Leicestershire chased a modest target to win their opening match at Cardiff last week, continued in the role with Patel nursing a dislocated thumb.Given that Ahmed shares Budinger’s positive approach, there was a promise of runs in abundance if things went their way and at 26 without loss after four overs Derbyshire skipper Wayne Madsen might have already been wondering whether bowling first had been the right choice, even with plenty of grass on the pitch.Zak Chappell provided some reassurance immediately by bowling Ahmed, who drove loosely, but there was no more joy for Madsen’s bowlers until the penultimate over before lunch and the end of Budinger, who had been pretty impressive until, as can be his downfall, he played one shot too many.You could hardly blame him. Until that moment, he’d given the treatment to virtually everything even a tad short or wide and profited to the tune of 15 boundaries in a run-a-ball 81. But this time the ball from Martin Andersson, only just into the attack for the first time, perhaps climbed a little more than he anticipated outside off stump and the contact he made was enough only to deflect it into the gloves of wicketkeeper Brooke Guest. After 19 first-class matches, 87 remains Budinger’s highest score.His demise at 129 for two, following a 103-run partnership with Holland, prefaced a more rewarding afternoon for Derbyshire’s bowlers, with testing spells from Tickner, Luis Reece and Zak Chappell bringing breakthroughs after Holland had completed a 98-ball half-century.Tickner, back with Derbyshire after a family illness last year prompted an early return to New Zealand, hurried one through to have Lewis Hill leg before for 24; Reece, who had been twice close to dismissing Handscomb in single figures, had Holland caught at gully for 74; and Chappell, back on the ground where he began his career, bowled Patel’s replacement, Louis Kimber.But Handscomb, who flashed one edge off Reece almost through second-slip Madsen and promptly dropped another just short, settled down alongside Ben Cox to guide Leicestershire to tea and beyond.The captain and wicketkeeper added 97 for the sixth wicket before Derbyshire, with the new ball four overs away, made an important breakthrough as Handscomb, almost out off a thick edge to slip two balls earlier, was bowled by David Lloyd’s off-spin, one wicket bringing another as left-arm spinner Jack Morley had Cox leg before for 49.But any Derbyshire hopes of making short work of what remained in the Leicestershire innings were thwarted by Van Beek and Ben Green, who added 64 although Van Beek had some good fortune when the delivery from Reece that came back to bowl him on 33 was signalled as a no ball.Tickner had Green caught at long leg and the persevering Reece had Ben Mike leg before but Leicestershire were not to be denied a fourth batting point and may yet claim a fifth.