Read steers Notts to safety

Chris Read was a picture of calm in guiding Notts home

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Chris Read steered Nottinghamshire to a comfortable draw against Lancashire at Old Trafford after a burst of three wickets in four balls from Dominic Cork.

Notts were in trouble at 46 for three after being set a victory target of 315 by Luke Sutton’s declaration half an hour before lunch, especially with injury doubts over Adam Voges and Matthew Wood, two of their specialist batsmen.

But Read came in at number five to share a fourth-wicket stand of 70 with makeshift opener Paul Franks, and went on to an unbeaten 71 before shaking hands on a draw with Sutton at 5.20pm with 11 overs of the day’s allocation remaining.

Voges, who suffered a bruised wrist batting against Cork in the first innings, was fit enough to bat at six and had reached 19 when the draw was agreed.

Wood had been hit on the hip by a sweep by Sutton when he was fielding at short-leg late in the Lancashire innings.

Lancashire took 11 points to Nottinghamshire’s nine, but remain 13 behind Read’s team in the LV County Championship Division One table going into the Twenty20 break.

The fourth day had begun with Lancashire 146 for four in their second innings, and the match fascinatingly poised.

Francois Du Plessis completed his second half-century of the match in a sixth-wicket stand of 72 with Sutton, who declared on 234 for six immediately after his own dismissal when he top-edged a sweep off Samit Patel.

Franks and Will Jefferson encouraged Nottinghamshire's hopes of an unlikely victory by putting on 32 in six overs before lunch.

But Cork, who had taken 3-60 in their first innings, then seized the initiative for Lancashire in his fifth over.

He had Jefferson lbw with his third ball, and two deliveries later Sutton took a good low catch down the leg-side to send back Mark Wagh for a duck.

Cork then bowled Patel first ball with a full, swinging delivery, celebrating wildly as Lancashire sniffed their second championship win of the season.

Things might have been different if they had taken either of two half-chances in the next couple of overs.

First Franks poked Gary Keedy to short-leg but Iain Sutcliffe could not hold what would have been a miracle catch.

Then from the first ball of the next over, Franks denied Cork a hat-trick with a push off his legs to midwicket, but called for a risky single and would have been run-out if Lou Vincent had managed a direct hit.

The New Zealander missed, and Lancashire never looked likely to break Franks’ partnership with Read until the introduction of Du Plessis’ occasional leg-spin just before tea.

It led to a flurry of boundaries, and the dismissal of Franks, caught by Cork at slip.

Surprisingly, Cork was kept out of the attack for 39 overs, and even his return after tea made little impact.