Thakor brights up damp day

Leicestershire teenager Shiv Thakor produced another eye-catching innings on a rain-hit second day with Gloucestershire at Grace Road. Thakor, 18, hit an unbeaten 68 off 96 balls to steer Leicestershire to 220 for 5 before the rain swept in and play was finally abandoned an hour and 40 minutes before the scheduled close.

With the start also delayed for 15 minutes because of a rain shower, only 38.2 overs were bowled in the day, during which Leicestershire added 126 runs for the loss of two wickets to trail Gloucestershire's first innings score of 234 by just 14 runs. But Thakor lit up the truncated day with another superb knock that brought him his fourth half-century in nine innings.

Leicestershire began the day on 94 for 3 with opener Greg Smith needing three runs to reach only his second 50 of the season. He did it in style with a straight drive to the boundary off Will Gidman in the second over. It was Smith's eighth four, and the half-century came off 85 balls.

Josh Cobb, however, failed to add to his overnight score of 10 and was bowled by Liam Norwell off an inside edge trying to force the ball away off the back foot. Smith went past his previous best score of 68 for the season, but was then snapped up at short leg off the bowling off young off spinner Jack Taylor for 77.

After that it was the Thakor show, with the England Under19 batsman unleashing a glittering array of strokes as he reached his half-century off 75 balls with eight fours. Three more boundaries quickly followed, but the rain began to fall with Thakor's sixth-wicket partnership with Wayne White worth 65. An early tea was taken but with no sign of an improvement in the weather, play was called off for the day at 4.20pm.