A round-up of all the action from the first day of the latest matches in Division Two
Cricinfo staff11-May-2005
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Andrew Flintoff began bowling again on the first day at Old Trafford © Getty Images
Andrew Flintoff’s return to bowling action was a rare bright spot on a disappointing day for Lancashire. The England allrounder was thrown the ball in the 14th over of Durham’s first innings and after a rusty start struck in his fourth over. However, he didn’t have as much success with the bat as he was dismissed for 12 by Mick Lewis. Lancashire slumped to 106 for 8 as Lewis, Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett caused plenty of problems. Harmison got the better of his duel with Brad Hodge, who was caught by Mike Hussey for 8. Lewis snapped up the in-form Stuart Law for 22 but Durham encountered some unexpected resistance from the ninth wicket. James Anderson and Gary Keedy, with career averages of 10 and 11 respectively, hung around for almost two hours and edged the score towards 200. Anderson posted a career-best 37 but Lancashire fell a single run short of a batting point when Muttiah Muralitharan was bowled by Plunkett
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Bilal Shafayat continued his batting rehabilitation at Northants with a stylish 153 against Yorkshire to take advantage of winning the toss. Essex, without the resting Darren Gough and Alex Tudor, had managed to nip out three Northants batsman in the twenties and at 135 for 3 the day was on an even keel. But Shafayat then found support from Usman Afzaal and the pair added 134, with Shafayat bringing up his hundred from 192 balls. He was eventually undone by Dale Steyn but Essex encountered further resistance from the middle-order. Riki Wessels, the son of Northants coach Kepler, made a promising 26 and Damien Wright weighed in with 32 as the home side closed within sight of a full hand of batting points
Stephen Moore goes for a booming drive as he piles up a first double-century against Derbyshire © Getty Images
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A career-best double-century from Stephen Moore spearheaded a fine Worcestershire fightback. Derbyshire reduced them to 20 for 3 with the new ball and later 151 for 6 as Kevin Dean snapped up three middle-order wickets. After their embarrassing defeat against Loughborough UCCE a similar batting collapse was on the cards. But Moore found an able ally in Chaminda Vaas and the pair added 101 for the seventh wicket. Moore, with a previous highest score of 146, drove and pulled with real authority and made Derbyshire pay for dropping him on 12. Even when Vaas and Kabir Ali departed Moore and David Pipe added 108 for the ninth wicket to complete a superb turnaround.
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HD Ackerman was left stranded on 85 as Leicestershire’s tail collapsed and failed to make the most of some hard work by the top order. Runs were never flowing freely at Grace Road against a tight Yorkshire attack but on 151 for 2 Leicestershire had a solid platform. However, Anthony McGrath removed Darren Maddy (53) and Aftab Habib (41) while sending down 26 overs of medium pace, and the lower order crumbled against Deon Kruis. Matthew Hoggard claimed only a single wicket but Kruis was again penetrative as he added three more scalps to take his season tally to 17, after his winter move from South Africa.
