Henderson to the rescue again

Leicestershire staged an astonishing fightback against Glamorgan on a dramatic opening day of the new County Championship season at Grace Road.

They recovered from the shock of losing two wickets to the first two balls of the game to post a competitive total of 249, with Claude Henderson scoring an unbeaten half-century and Ramnaresh Sarwan making a vital 41 on his Leicestershire debut.

Then Matthew Hoggard, Robbie Joseph and Nadeem Malik had Glamorgan reeling with devastating spells as the Welshmen staggered to 25 for 5 in 11 overs at the close of a remarkable day's cricket.

Joseph, making his debut after being released by Kent, struck first with a successful lbw shout against Stewart Walters. In the next over Hoggard dismissed Gareth Rees in similar fashion and then clean bowled Ben Wright.

Joseph picked up his second wicket when William Bragg edged to Sarwan at slip and Moises Henriques was caught behind in Malik's first over, meaning 15 wickets had fallen in the day for 274 runs.

The start to the game was one of the most dramatic openings to a season seen on the ground. After putting Leicestershire in to bat on a damp pitch, Glamorgan had them 1 for 3 from three overs.

Huw Waters took two wickets with his first two balls, having Greg Smith caught at short leg by Gareth Rees and then pinning Jacques du Toit lbw. He struck again with the fifth ball of his second over when Matt Boyce popped up another catch to Rees at short leg and there seemed no way back for the hosts who finished bottom of the Second Division last season.

But a brisk 26 from Josh Cobb, who hit two fours and two sixes, and then some stout and sensible batting from the middle and late order batsmen pulled Leicestershire out of trouble.

Sarwan, who had to come in and face the hat-trick delivery from Walters, looked impressive in his 110-ball stay at the crease. He mixed solid defence with some sweetly timed boundaries, six in all, before being trapped lbw by Graham Wagg.

Henderson then spearheaded the recovery as he did a year ago in the same fixture, when Leicestershire beat Glamorgan on opening day to claim their only Championship win of the season. He made an unbeaten 80 on that occasion and once again frustrated the Welshmen with another 57 not out. His half-century came off 108 balls and included a six and two fours.

He was given excellent support by Ned Eckersley (25), Wayne White (37) and Joseph (29) before Leicestershire's seamers completed the stunning fightback.