Herefordshire in charge

Shropshire have a battle on their hands if they are to avoid defeat in their opening Minor Counties clash with Herefordshire at Eastnor.

They ended the second day on 123 for seven in their second innings, which gives them an overall lead of 139, with Will Rudge (3-36) and Charlie Griffiths (2-26) tearing through Shropshire’s batting.

The visitors had earlier been in a strong position as spinner Andy Gray’s 6-73 helped bowl out Herefordshire for 189, giving them a first-innings lead of 16.

However, former Gloucestershire all-rounder Rudge bowled superbly in adding to his five first-innings wickets and inspired a collapse that saw four wickets fall for just 16 runs.

Skipper Chris Boroughs was the pick of the Herefordshire batsman with an unbeaten 56, while opener Ben Stebbings made 39 before Gray's intervention.