Moores sniffs title
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE coach Peter Moores believes his side have shown they can be Championship contenders after a 203-run victory over Hampshire kept them at the top of the Division One table.
Three wins from four games have given Moores’ newly-promoted outfit a great start. Following early season wicket-fests against Lancashire and Worcestershire, yesterday’s win gave Moores hope that they can be contenders for the Championship pennant this season.
“It’s now a very good start to the season and while all three wins have been very different – from the Lancashire one where there was a flurry of wickets in a short space of time to the Worcestershire game, which felt like it was on fast-forward – this felt like a proper four-day win with hard graft all the way through,” said Moores.
“That’s as good a four-day win as I’ve seen for a team being on the front foot all the way through.”
Captain Steven Mullaney, who took over from long-serving skipper Chris Read at the end of last season, said: “We’re delighted. Sitting nicely at the top of the league after four games is probably better than any of us could imagine.”
At Old Trafford Somerset and Lancashire drew while at the Oval Surrey and Worcestershire followed suit.
In Division Two, Durham completed a remarkable comeback to defeat Leicestershire by 46 runs – the first time they have won after being forced to follow on.
Chasing a final-innings target of 148 for the win, Leicestershire looked odds-on to land a first Championship victory since September 2016. But an initial three-wicket blitz from Chris Rushworth was the preamble to a monumental choke with 40-3 becoming 79-6. James Weighell, with 7-32, lopped off the Foxes’ tail at 101.
“At 50-6 when the opposition has scored 440, you’ve got no right to be in the game at that point,” said Durham coach Jon Lewis. “Tremendous credit must go to the batters initially to getting us back into contention.” MULLANEY LEON HASLAM scorched to a double win to take the lead in the Bennetts British Championship at Oulton Park yesterday.
The JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider said: “We had a plan and we knew what rhythm we could do. Even in the slippery conditions we made it work, so I’m really happy.
“The Kawasaki always goes really well here and we knew that but the team has worked really hard here all weekend. I’m over the moon.”
Defending champion Shane Byrne, who had dropped back to fifth after a bad start, managed to salvage third place ahead of Bradley Ray in fourth, leaving the top three separated by just seven points going into race two.
“It was really hard and I was pushing but I felt in control,” said Haslam. “The heat was making the tyres roll a little bit more but the rear tyre stayed stable the whole race. The consistency is there now which was my main priority.”