Lancashire continued their march back to the top division of English cricket with an emphatic innings and 52 run thrashing of Leicestershire.
The Red Rose trounced the Foxes thanks to a magnificent bowling display from seamer Kyle Hogg.
He took five wickets including three of the first five yesterday as Leicestershire were all out for 174 in their second innings having been forced to follow on.
Hogg has now taken 42 wickets in the Championship this season, and could smash his previous best haul of 50 wickets in the title-winning year of 2011.
Lancashire, who are top of the LV=County Championship Division Two after their fourth win in five games, forced the win despite dire weather forecasts.
The win saw Lancashire grab 23 points and move closer to an immediate return to the top flight.
Coach Peter Moores is targeting a further two wins to ensure promotion.
“I think if I’m honest, we’ve now got six wins. At the start of the season we targeted eight wins if we could, half your games,” he told the club’s website.
“You never know what can happen because in England weather can always play a part. We were desperate to try and get wins last year, but we just kept coming across the weather and didn’t get a chance.
Moores praised his side’s resilience which has seen the Red Rose maintain an unbeaten streak in four day cricket this season.
“It’s been lovely this season to play, and play good cricket. We’ve still got a record where we haven’t been beaten yet,” he said.
“We’re the only side in country to have that. There’s an intensity to how we’re playing at the moment.”
Lancashire are not in four-day action again until August 22, by which time they will have also played three 40-over matches and potentially made an appearance at Twenty20 Finals Day.
Image courtesy of Lords Cricket Ground via YouTube, with thanks.
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