Rain thwarts Leicestershire

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Tom New hit a breezy unbeaten 41, but rain late in the day put paid to Leicestershire's hopes of victory against Middlesex

Rain and bad light put paid to an enthralling finish at Lord’s where LV= County Championship Division Two rivals Middlesex and Leicestershire were eventually forced to shake hands on an intriguing draw.

As the game entered its final hour, three short showers led to a hat-trick of brief interruptions and the loss 10 overs.

When rain arrived again just before 5.30pm, umpires Peter Willey and Nigel Cowley led the players off for a final time with Leicestershire on 139 for five - only 54 short of victory.

Having mopped up the last six Middlesex wickets inside 45 minutes at the start of the day, Leicestershire set about chasing 193 for their sixth win of the summer.

The visitors made the worst possible start when Greg Smith, fresh from a stylish 65 in the first innings, fell for a golden duck second time around after being castled by Tim Murtagh.

Soon after lunch Jacques du Toit, driving hard at a delivery from Murtagh, found a thick edge to be spectacularly held overhead and to his right at slip by Dawid Malan to make it 29 for two.

Middlesex nemesis James Taylor, averaging 161 against this opposition, this time went after only six deliveries and without scoring.

Moving back and across his stumps, when he might have played forward to a full-length ball from Pedro Collins, Taylor went lbw to give Middlesex their first whiff of victory.

Paul Nixon then dug in with fellow left-hander Matthew Boyce to add 55 in 21.3 overs and take the visitors to within 109 of victory.

However, on the cusp of the tea break, Nixon pushed forward at the occasional off-spin of Owais Shah to be caught at short leg for 24.

Boyce notched a 102-ball half-century at the start of the final session, but only two balls later he went back to a quicker ball from Shaun Udal that crept through his defences and pegged back off stump, to leave Leicestershire seemingly in trouble at 92 for five.

Tom New cut the deficit further with a bright and breezy 41 not out, including six boundaries before rain arrived and frustration ensued.

The final day started with Middlesex resuming on their overnight position of 168 for four after 62 overs.

They soon lost nightwatchman Toby Roland-Jones for 13, caught at short-leg sweeping at a full-length ball from Claude Henderson.

Owais Shah joined forces with Gareth Berg, who made 21, to see Middlesex past 200, with the former posting his third half-century of the summer along the way from 111 balls.

But when Shah departed, caught at slip off the bowling of Jigar Naik, Middlesex lost their last five wickets for 29 runs in the space of 8.5 overs.

Left-arm spinner Henderson bagged 3-49, off-spinner Naik 2-78 and rookie seamer Nathan Buck, who extracted good pace and bounce from a fourth-day pitch, claimed 3-37 as Middlesex collapsed from 119 without loss to 255 all out.