Stevens century paves way for Foxes to outwit Dynamos

A magnificent innings of 125 from 119 balls by Darren Stevens put Leicestershire Foxes into a winning position in their Norwich Union League Division One match at Chester-le-Street. The Foxes reached an impressive 266 for seven in their 45 overs, with nobody other than Stevens even getting a half-century. In reply, the Dynamos had no answer, being bowled out for 181 in 40.2 overs.

The only real support for Stevens in the Foxes' innings came initially from Trevor Ward who compiled an uncharacteristically slow 33, taking 51 balls as he did so. Otherwise, it was not until another Darren - Maddy - joined him that Stevens was able to find a partner who did not encounter problems with conditions and the bowling. Maddy only hit one boundary in the 19-ball innings, but he managed to scamper 30 runs to be not out at the close.

Stevens, whose name appears in the provisional list of 20 to attend the ECB National Academy next winter, demonstrated just why he would not be out of place in such company. He came to the crease when Iain Sutcliffe was out early on, and did not depart until there were 256 on the board. By that time he had done his job.

It was up to the bowlers then and that wily old fox Phil DeFreitas obliged with three wickets, as did off-spinner Carl Crowe. Tales of a fox and a crow make it sound like a fable, but the Dynamos' innings was anything but fabulous. In fact it was a grim story as DeFreitas had his wickets in the bag when there were only 26 on the board.

Paul Collingwood and Gordon Muchall mounted a stand for the fourth wicket before Collingwood went for 44. Muchall went on to the top score of 48, and Jon Lewis managed 31 but that was just about all there was from the Dynamos.

They never looked likely to threaten the Foxes' score and DeFreitas was not even required to come back to finish his spell. This win eases fears of relegation for the Foxes, while there appears to be no way out for the Dynamos. At least, there is a way out, but it appears to be out of Division One and into Division Two next season.