County Championship: Ashwell Prince hits double ton for Lancs
- Published
Ashwell Prince celebrates his double century on the third morning of Lancashire's match with Derbyshire
LV= County Championship Division Two, Southport (day three) |
Derbyshire 370 & 123-3: Slater 58, Hughes 41 |
Lancashire 551: Prince 230, Petersen 113; Taylor 4-113 |
Lancashire lead by 58 runs |
Derbyshire 6 pts, Lancashire 8 pts |
Ashwell Prince struck 230 to help Lancashire accumulate an imposing first-innings lead against Derbyshire.
The 37-year-old hit 28 fours and two sixes in a near-eight hour stay at the crease at Southport as the hosts made 551, with Arron Lilley contributing 63.
He passed 200 for the third time in his career, and the second time for Lancashire, before he was dismissed by Matt Critchley (3-50).
Derbyshire lost two late wickets to finish on 123-3, still 58 behind.
Lancashire began the day on 348-4 and lost wicketkeeper Alex Davies (37) to Tom Taylor (4-113) before Prince put on 78 for the sixth wicket with Jordan Clark (39) to move the score past 400.
Derbyshire began their second innings 181 runs behind and looked to be making a good response as Ben Slater (58) and Chesney Hughes (41) put 98 on for the second wicket, but both fell in the final two overs to leave their side trailing going into the final day.
"BBC Sport's Stephan Shemilt at Southport |
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"Ashwell Prince turns 38 on Thursday, but reversing his decision to retire is looking a good one after he turned his third Championship hundred of the season into a marathon 230. The left-hander needs to be crowbarred onto the front foot, regularly working off his pads and occasionally belting through the covers. It took a Matt Critchley long-hop to get him out and from that moment, the day was Derbyshire's until two late wickets." |
Lancashire batsman Ashwell Prince:
"It was a good day and getting those two wickets in the last few overs was crucial.
"We felt anything over 500 in our first innings would have been a bonus. But when we started the day that was a long way away so we needed another couple of partnerships.
"The pitch is turning, there is a lot of rough out there but we expected that, which is why we picked the two spinners."
Derbyshire's performance director Graeme Welch:
"It was a hard-working day and it was a shame we lost those two wickets at the end. Ben Slater and Chesney Hughes played extremely well against the turning ball and we'll see where we are tomorrow.
"If you get any kind of lead on that pitch, I think you're in the game. It was always going to be difficult.
"It would have been interesting if we had been one down but I've just said in the changing rooms that with any sort of lead, even 120, I've seen funny things happen. Hopefully we can get a little lead and see where it takes us."
Ashwell Prince has scored 771 runs and averages 96.37 for Lancashire this season
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