With sixteen wickets falling at Grace Road yesterday, Mark Butcher's decision to bat was totally vindicated, especially when Leicestershire slumped to 88 for five after the visitors' first innings had been wrapped up in eleven overs for the addition of fifty runs to the overnight position. The home side had John Maunders and Stuart Broad to thank for avoiding the follow-on target of 221, but the Foxes still have much to do with Surrey in possession of a 126-run advantage at the halfway stage.

If the chairman of selectors, David Graveney, and fellow selector Geoff Miller had travelled to Leicester with a view to assessing Rikki Clarke's proximity to an international recall, they will certainly have left impressed by the 19-year-old Broad, who followed up his career best figures of five for 94 with a dogged 24 off 83 balls.

Broad shared in an eighth-wicket stand of 56 with Maunders, which took the sting out of Surrey's attack for more than an hour. He survived one let-off, on 14, when put down at square leg by Scott Newman off the bowling of Jimmy Ormond. But the deadlock was broken six overs later when Maunders - whose career best 171 not out was made in the corresponding fixture three years ago - swept Nayan Doshi to backward square leg. He had made 87 off 181 balls, including eight fours and a six.

Doshi benefited from the pressure built up by Ian Salisbury, whose only reward was the wicket of Broad in the 86th over, when the left-hander was caught off bat and pad at silly mid-off. Three overs later, Doshi drew a line under the day's proceedings by having Mohammad Asif caught behind.

Earlier, having established a dominant position on day one, the visitors's lower order was brushed aside by some inspired bowling, backed up with some excellent fielding - none more so than when Tim Murtagh was run out by a direct throw from square leg after being sent back by the batsman, Ormond.

Butcher lost his off stump to the thirteenth delivery of the morning, which seemed to keep a little low. Asif then picked up his first two wickets in the County Championship when Azhar Mahmood failed to deal with a lifting delivery and was caught at first slip and Salisbury was leg before to a one that clearly shot through. Broad then completed the first five-wicket haul of his first-class career, by removing Rikki Clarke, who was caught at third slip off a thick outside edge for an attractive 45 off 50 balls, and Ormond, who feathered one behind.

But then Leicestershire suffered a similar collapse, with five wickets falling in the first twenty-nine overs of the Foxes' second dig - three of them to Murtagh. Darren Robinson was accounted for in the seventh over when Ormond flattened the former Essex opener's off stump and Darren Maddy lost his middle peg when he played around an inswinging delivery from Mahmood.

Dinesh Mongia went in the second over after lunch, clipping the ball off his toes to square leg. The 25th over saw Murtagh pull of a brilliant caught and bowled when H.D.Ackerman reached forward to one that held up. Jeremy Snape was lured into playing at short-pitched ball that seamed away fractionally before Maunders took charge of a Leicestershire counter-attack, finding useful allies in Paul Nixon and Claude Henderson. Nixon was caught low down to the left of his opposite number and Henderson was leg before, essaying a half-hearted sweep at Doshi.

GO TO:

BACK TO: