LV COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION TWO, Grace Road:
CLOSE OF PLAY, DAY TWO: Worcestershire 308 and 62-2 Leicestershire 181
Worcestershire 6pts Leicestershire 3pts
Match scorecard

Worcester pace bowler Jack Shantry took 5-49 from 22.1 overs

A first-class best return of 5-49 from young Worcestershire left-arm pace bowler Jack Shantry saw Leicestershire dismissed for just 181 at Grace Road.

Seamer Richard Jones took three wickets, including openers Will Jefferson and Matt Boyce.

Paul Nixon top-scored for the Foxes with 74 before being bowled by Jones.

Worcestershire lost out-of-form Australian opener Phil Jaques for a duck, but Daryl Mitchell and Moeen Ali extended the lead to 189 by the close.

Apart from 39-year-old Nixon, none of the other Leicestershire batsmen ever looked set against Worcestershire's battery of seam bowlers, splendidly led by 22-year-old Shantry.

He took four of his wickets in a 20-over spell either side of the lunch interval and then returned to wrap up the home side's innings with the final wicket of Nathan Buck.

The early damage had been done by Richard Jones who dismissed openers Will Jefferson and Matthew Boyce with only 38 on the board.

Shantry then struck to have James Taylor caught behind as he tried to drive, and Australian Andrew McDonald became another Shantry victim when a fine delivery saw him edge to second slip.

The left-arm seamer then trapped Jacques du Toit lbw for a duck, leaving Leicestershire in disarray at 85 for five but Nixon, assisted by Tom New, at least managed to edge them nearer the follow-on mark of 159.

The two of them shared a vital stand of 39 for the sixth wicket and after New's departure Claude Henderson joined forces with Nixon for another important partnership for the eighth wicket.

Henderson was the second highest scorer with 23 and when Nixon finally fell to a superb delivery from Jones he had batted 261 minutes, faced 210 balls and hit ten boundaries.

Shantry was well supported by Jones who finished with three for 49 and Alan Richardson who took two for 45.

Although Worcestershire lost two quick wickets when Matthew Hoggard had Phil Jaques lbw for his second duck of the match and Vikram Solanki was caught at cover off Buck, they recovered to reach the close in a healthy position at 62 - 2.

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