Leach takes three wickets but Australia XI build strong lead against England Lions

SCORECARD: https://www.ecb.co.uk/matches/10411

England Lions trail the Australia XI by 353 runs going into the final day at Canterbury after a day of mixed fortunes.

The first hour of day three was almost a carbon copy of the same period on day two. This time, though, it was England who lost quick wickets to bring their innings to a close, 130 behind the tourists.

Lewis Gregory and Jack Leach went for ducks, while Sam Curran reached 50 and then got out stumped to spinner Jon Holland. And Jamie Porter was the last to fall, lbw to Chris Tremain.

Porter delivered with the ball early on though, having Joe Burns caught in the slips by Sam Hain. Marcus Harris and Kurtis Patterson added 73 before Harris gave Somerset spinner Leach his first wicket of the match, chipping the ball up to Dom Sibley.

Leach then dismissed Patterson in his next over thanks to a smart catch from Ollie Robinson at slip. Robinson also picked up his first wicket of the match, and first for the Lions, trapping Mitchell Marsh in front for 26.

Test captain Tim Paine batted patiently for 38, only to then get a leading edge to Leach, which took an eternity to come down into the bowler’s hands, bringing reward for bowling unchanged for the entire evening session.

Matthew Wade, who scored a century in the first innings, retired hurt over the tea interval having taken a blow on the elbow from Lewis Gregory.

The Australia XI finished the day on 223 for six.

Quotes

Jack Leach: "There was definitely more assistance out there today than there was on day one; a bit of rough outside the leg stump, which turned down the slope.

“To the left-handers I felt in the game, but to the right-handers I didn’t get as much out of the pitch as I was hoping for, so I came round the wicket. I just tried to keep the run rate down – obviously they took a lead from the first innings so it was about keeping that to a minimum.

“We stuck at it pretty well today and took a few wickets along the way.”