All-round Groenewald brings Derbyshire victory
Derbyshire completed an emphatic first victory of the County Championship Division Two season before tea on the third day when they saw off Leicestershire by an innings and 32 runs
16-Apr-2011
Derbyshire completed an emphatic first victory of the County Championship Division Two season before tea on the third day when they saw off Leicestershire by an innings and 32 runs.
They bowled Leicestershire out for 177 to wrap up their first victory by an innings-plus since 2008, as Tim Groenewald took three more wickets at Derby's County Ground to add to his five in the first innings and score of 60 not out.
With a first-innings lead of 209, Derbyshire made just the start they wanted to leave their east Midlands rivals struggling at 19 for 3 in the first eight overs of the morning.
An exceptional one-handed catch to his right in the gully from Garry Park set them on their way, as Greg Smith fell to Groenewald for one at five for one. That was from the seventh ball of the day and, in the following over, Jacques du Toit edged to Jon Clare at third slip off Tony Palladino to make it 12 for 2.
Much then rested on the veteran Paul Nixon and outstanding young batsman James Taylor to steady the Leicestershire innings. However, just as they were beginning to settle, Nixon set off for a quick single and as he tried to recover his ground he was run out at the non-striker's end for 10 by Derbyshire's Greg Smith from short extra cover.
Derbyshire were flying then and survival mode was not enough to save Leicestershire from losing two more wickets before lunch. A rising ball from Clare was edged through to wicketkeeper Luke Sutton by Tom New on nine, to make it 40 for 4.
Then Jigar Naik, who survived a sharp chance to third slip on one, clipped a catch to Dan Redfern at square leg off Mark Turner to fall for 22 at 74 for 5.
Will Jefferson, who opened the batting in the first innings, could not come in until number seven because he spent the previous day off the field with a thigh injury. However, batting with a runner, he managed to hold up the Derbyshire charge.
He and Taylor, the little and large of the county game, took the score to 98 before Taylor was undone by a rising ball from Palladino and looped a catch to Wes Durston at first slip, having made 24. But Jefferson held out and put on 62 for the seventh wicket with Claude Henderson, the man who frustrated Derbyshire in the first innings in a last-wicket stand of 96.
The towering Jefferson rode his luck at times, edging over and wide of the slips, in reaching 41 but when he was finally bowled by Clare with the score 160 for seven, the end came swiftly for Leicestershire.
Henderson moved on to an unbeaten 40 but the final three wickets fell in successive overs, with Groenewald taking two of them, to leave him with figures of three for 38 for the innings and eight for 97 for the match.
He had Nathan Buck caught behind for eight and, after Turner blasted through Nadeem Malik's defences before he could get off the mark, Groenewald wrapped up the victory by bowling Matthew Hoggard for a duck.
