Holland helps Leics fight back against Glamorgan

Rothesay County Championship, Division One, Uptonsteel Grace Road, Leicester (day two)

Leicestershire151: Holland 23; Toole 3-48, Gorvin 2-18, Van der Gugten 2-51 & 79-2: Gumbs 33*

Glamorgan 152: Crane 44; Holland 4-30, Mike 4-38

Leicestershire (3 pts) lead Glamorgan (3 pts) by 78 runs with eight second-innings wickets remaining

Match scorecard

Fifteen wickets fell on day two at Grace Road as Glamorgan were bowled out for 152, a one-run lead over Leicestershire, who lost their last three first-innings wickets to be bowled out for 151, before reaching 79-2 seond time around.

Skipper Ian Holland (4-30) and fellow all-rounder Ben Mike (4-38) were the pick of the Leicestershire bowlers.

Leicestershire, still hopeful of gathering enough points to avoid relegation in the six matches that remain of a closely-contested Division One season, then eased into a 78-run lead at halfway.

Earlier, with still plenty for the seamers in a pitch on which they would have almost certainly bowled first, Leicestershire added 38 to their 113 for seven overnight before they were bowled out in the 63rd over.

The Glamorgan seam attack, impressive on day one, picked up where they had left off.

But the Foxes then had Glamorgan in deep trouble at 55-6 before Mason Crane (44) led a recovery.

With play extended after Thursday's rain interruptions, Leicestershire lost Rishi Patel second time around, caught at mid-on after an aggressive 26 off 23 balls that included two sixes, after which Rehan Ahmed could do little about the ball from Ray Toole that bowled him for 15.

But Sheridon Gumbs, patient at first, reeled off some high-quality shots in reaching 33 not out, putting his side in what looks potentially like a strong position.

Report by ECB Reporters' Network, supported by Rothesay.

Leicestershire's Ben Mike said:

"In a low-scoring game any lead is going to be crucial so I think we're in a decent position with the lead we have. It was a tricky time to bat for Rishi and Sheridon but I think they did really well.

"The pitch has obviously been doing a bit, perhaps more than it usually does here, but I think it's quite a competitive cricket wicket. It's not common for it to bounce as much here as it has and there's always probably a ball with your name on it.

"Hopefully it will get a bit easier to bat on and we will look to score as many as we can."

Glamorgan's Mason Crane told BBC Sport Wales:

"It's pretty unusual to top score with 44 but it's one of those games where crazy things happen, so I'm pretty happy with our position. The pitch is doing enough, it felt like that throughout the innings.

"A lot of balls are going up and down, so you have to get stuck in, be a bit brave at times and see where you go from there.

"It's one of those games where you can take risks. If it comes off, it looks like it's a good thing to do and if it doesn't come off, it's the wrong thing to do.

"No one really knows what a good score is, hopefully it gets easier to bat on and then in the last innings we can chase whatever we need to."