logo
Aussie county skip left 99 overnight in top-table duel

Aussie county skip left 99 overnight in top-table duel

Perth Now4 days ago
Victoria's Peter Handscomb is one run from his 28th century in his 200th first-class match. (Russell Freeman/AAP PHOTOS)
Victoria's Peter Handscomb is one run from his 28th century in his 200th first-class match. (Russell Freeman/AAP PHOTOS) Credit: AAP
Former Australian Test batter Peter Handscomb was left on 99 not out as play closed on the first day of the local derby promotion battle between English midlands counties Leicestershire and Derbyshire.
The Victorian is Leicestershire captain and he has led the unfashionable county to the summit of the County Championship's second division - with neighbours Derbyshire second.
Hosts Derbyshire made a superb start, dismissing their visitors to 2-0 with Kiwi quick Blair Tickner picking up one of the wickets.
But Leicestershire responded like champions. England allrounder Rehan Ahmed made 115, his third consecutive hundred in the competition, before falling to a fine running catch at midwicket by Australian Caleb Jewell.
Ahmed had added 169 with Lewis Hill who went on to make an unbeaten 132 himself.
Hill and Handscomb shared an unbroken fourth wicket stand of 188 to leave Leicestershire 3-357 with three days to play.
Handscomb, who is playing his 200th first-class match, reached 50 off 84 balls, and got to 90 off 140 balls and has since spent 23 balls in the 90s.
With Hill taking a single off the first ball of the day's last over he had five balls to score the two he needed for his 28th first-class hundred, but could only take a single off the fifth ball.
The 34-year-old, who played the last of his 20 Tests in India in 2023, will resume in the morning aiming to lead Leicestershire to a commanding total before Jewell has the chance to lead the home side's response.
Elsewhere in Division Two Wes Agar took 3-29 as bottom-of-the-table Kent looked to get back into the game after being dismissed for 154 by Glamorgan. The Welsh county closed on 4-125.
Marcus Harris made 29 in Lancashire's 6-290 against Cameron Bancroft's Gloucestershire.
In the top flight Beau Webster went straight back into the Warwickshire side after returning from Australia's Test matches in the West Indies. With Worcestershire electing to bat the allrounder was limited to bowling and took the key wicket of visiting skipper Basil D'Oliveira for 57 as the home team made 8-262.
Surrey's long-serving Australian opening bowler Dan Worrell, an outside bet to play for England in the Ashes as he is now eligible, took 3-49 at Scarborough as Yorkshire made 4-282. That took his season's tally to 22 at under 24 apiece.
At 34, like Handscomb, his chance is probably gone, but he is closing in on 400 first-class wickets and the Victorian knows Australian conditions well.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Piastri rues 'disappointing' error as Norris takes pole
Piastri rues 'disappointing' error as Norris takes pole

Perth Now

timean hour ago

  • Perth Now

Piastri rues 'disappointing' error as Norris takes pole

Australia's Oscar Piastri has been left regretting a qualifying slip that has helped put McLaren teammate and world championship arch-rival Lando Norris on pole for the Belgian Grand Prix. The pair are gearing up for another classic wet weather battle after the dominating qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps. Norris set the fastest time early on in the final session on Saturday to grab pole position for Sunday's race. Piastri could not quite beat it on his final run, finishing 0.085 seconds behind his British teammate. Piastri has a nine-point lead at the top of the world championship standings but is under increasingly intense pressure from in-form Norris, who is aiming for his third straight grand prix race victory. Piastri had been quickest in Friday practice and sprint qualifying but found Norris had stepped things up the following day. Piastri said: "The second lap was coming together really well and I just made a little mistake in (turn) 14. It is fine margins out there. "Not a bad place to be starting, but there was more in it so that is disappointing." Norris said: "The car has been been flying all weekend, Oscar has been doing a good job all weekend, so we're pushing each other a lot. "It's tough because you see where your strengths and weaknesses are easily and you learn from each other quickly. It's a good but tough battle that we have at the minute." Rain is forecast for Sunday, raising the prospect of another wet-weather shoot-out between the two McLarens after Norris came out on top in a thriller at his home race at Silverstone last time out. Norris said it could be a "Silverstone-esque" race, hinting at difficult driving conditions and possible chaos if parts of the circuit, the longest on the F1 calendar, get a drenching while other sections remain dry. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was third fastest and Dutchman Max Verstappen, who won the sprint race a few hours before qualifying, passing Piastri on the straight of the first lap, was fourth in the Red Bull. Alex Albon was fifth quickest in the Williams ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell. Lewis Hamilton's disappointing weekend continued with 16th place in qualifying after his best lap time was ruled out because he'd strayed off track. The day before, the Ferrari driver was 18th in qualifying for the sprint race following a spin. Piastri took seven points and Norris six from the sprint, meaning the Australian extended his overall lead from eight to nine points over his team-mate heading into Sunday. But Norris's race pole - and the weather - could change all that. With agencies

I've shown them: Groves completes grand set of wins
I've shown them: Groves completes grand set of wins

Perth Now

time2 hours ago

  • Perth Now

I've shown them: Groves completes grand set of wins

Australia's Kaden Groves has completed his set of grand tour stage wins after traversing the slippery roads to triumph on the penultimate day of the Tour de France. His late solo breakaway left the big two of Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard trailing in the pouring rain of northern France. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider surged ahead 16 kilometres from home and held on for his first Tour stage win and 10th at major races. The 26-year-old from the Sunshine Coast has claimed two at the Giro d'Italia and seven at the Spanish Vuelta. His bike-handling skills in the wet were to the fore as he negotiated a sodden descent 21km from the finish while two other rivals skidded out of control. He finished 54 seconds ahead of Frank van den Broek and 59 clear of Pascal Eenkhoorn, bursting into tears as he crossed the finish line in Pontarlier. He said: "There's so much pressure at the Tour, and having won in the Giro, having won in the Vuelta, all I ever get asked is am I good enough to win in the Tour? And now I show them. "It's my first time winning, so it's pretty incredible." Earlier in the stage, another Australian, Harrison Sweeny, had made his mark. When the front group tackled the 3.6km Côte de Thésy, Frenchman Jordan Jegat launched a solo attack, but he was then overtaken by Sweeny. As rain fell heavily again after 40km, Sweeny opened up a 50-second lead, only to be quickly reeled in. Aside from the Australian cameos, Pogačar kept things safe to maintain his healthy lead over arch-rival Vingegard and set the stage for a triumphant finale into Paris on Sunday. The Slovenian ace has a 4 minutes 24 seconds advantage over two-time Tour winner Vingegaard with Germany's Florian Lipowitz 11:03 behind Pogačar in third overall. Barring a dramatic misadventure, Pogačar should complete the job on Sunday and move level with British rider Chris Froome on four Tour titles. Victory would also give Pogačar a fifth Grand Tour after winning the Giro d'Italia in dominant fashion last year. However, Sunday's final stage is not a processional one, as is usually the case, and could potentially prove troublesome toward the end with three consecutive climbs. Saturday's 184.2km route from Nantua through eastern France featured three small climbs and a moderately difficult one up Côte de Thésy. The wet roads were treacherous at high speeds, with France's Romain Grégoire and Spaniard Iván Romeo both crashing as they attempted to navigate tight turns. Both were able to continue. The final stage is a 132.3km ride from Mantes-la-Jolie to Paris, where the peloton will cycle up the famous Butte Montmartre three times before the final laps on the Champs-Elysees. With agencies

A golden effort, a cruel ending, a classic for the ages
A golden effort, a cruel ending, a classic for the ages

The Age

time3 hours ago

  • The Age

A golden effort, a cruel ending, a classic for the ages

It was, friends — the result aside — rugby at its very best. The second thing to celebrate was just how wonderfully the Wallabies played. I want my Australian teams to bleed for the jersey, to back themselves, to eschew the percentage play in favour of a damn-the-torpedoes, full-speed-ahead approach — and that is exactly how they played from the outset. After losing last week, our blokes started the match as 6-1 underdogs, criticised by former Lions coach Clive Woodward for having a 'losing mentality,' and there was a widespread feeling that we were simply outclassed. But under the captaincy of Harry Wilson, the Wallabies looked like a different team from the opening whistle. The lineouts worked. The scrums worked. Courtesy of the likes of Will Skelton and Rob Valetini coming into the pack this week, we had so much go-forward in the collisions that the Lions forwards were reeling with every clash. Loading In the backs, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Tom Wright and Max Jorgensen made break after break. With ten minutes to go before half-time we had gone out to an 18-point lead, 23-5, courtesy of fabulous tries to James Slipper, Jake Gordon and Tom Wright - and it really looked as if not just a win but a blow-out win was on the cards! Even when the Lions came back with two tries of their own just before half-time, hope sprang eternal. For still the Wallabies didn't back off, tackling themselves red-raw meantime. The Australians even had the line wide-open at one point for what might have been the winning Wallabies try with ten minutes to go, only for our ball to be lost on heavy contact. It all came down to the final minute, with the Wallabies clinging to a 26–24 lead — only for the Lions to go over in extremis, in the corner. Many felt Lions flanker Jac Morgan's pulling down of Carlo Tizzano at a ruck just before Hugo Keenan scored, should have seen the try disallowed. Maybe. Maybe not. The ref said it was a legitimate try, and so be it. That technical loss aside, there was victory off the field in having staged such a match at the MCG — before a Lions world-record crowd of just over 90,000 — with many Victorians seizing the rare opportunity to witness a game of such global significance. With that in mind, I'll leave you with the words of Mr AFL himself, Eddie McGuire, who texted John Eales and myself immediately after the match ended. Folks, here's… Eddie!' 'What an amazing night for your code. 90,000 at the MCG! 'Record. Amazing game.,' McGuire messaged. 'Not sure why we didn't get the last penalty. Ref has no idea about setting up a huge result and a big final game. Another effing tax auditor ruining the game!! 'Almost the perfect result. Still an amazing night. You should be very proud of the rugby culture. A week of joy. More please!' More to come, Eddie. It will be at the Olympic Stadium, next Saturday night. The Australians will be waiting for the Lions. They're a team that has grown before our eyes over this past week, a team to be proud of. They will be even better next week, and if there is a rugby God, this time it will go our way!

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store