CricketLeicestershire Makes A Big Record Against Sussex In County Championship, Scores 756 Runs
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Leicestershire are still looking for their first win of the season in the second division of the LV=Insurance County Championship, but they had one of their most memorable days in their draw against the Sussexes at Hove.

He scored 756 for 4 as his South African pair of Colin Ackerman (277 not out) and Wian Mulder (235 not out) both scored their first double century. This was the highest innings in their first-class history, scoring 701 for 4 declared at Worcester in 1906.

Ackerman set a personal record for the county in 2006, beating an unbeaten 309 made by H.D. Ackerman of Glamorgan in Cardiff.

Sussex also made an unwanted record in their name. It was the most runs he had ever scored against him, surpassing the 726 he leaked at Nottingham in 1895 and the highest innings scored in 150 years of cricket at Hove.

But when Leicestershire declared at lunch, 168 runs to Sussex to avoid an innings defeat, the home side played positively, as Ali Orr and Tom Clark shared a 79-run stand for the first wicket. The Sussexes made 220 for 1 with Orr scoring an unbeaten 106, his third career century, while Tom Alsop scored an unbeaten 60 to add 200 runs for the game.

Leicestershire started the fourth day at 529 for 4 but surprisingly scored 227 runs in the session. The batsmen showed their intention by scoring 52 runs in the first half hour. When Ackerman sweeps Delray Rollins for a single, Leicestershire were in the lead after just 37 minutes of play.

Ackerman then pulled Shaun Hunt to the back of the square to reach his double century. His previous best was 196. Mulder, whose previous high was 146, scored four runs through cover to Henry Crocombe to make 400, only second in Leicestershire history.

Rollins was the most expensive of the Sussex bowlers, with figures of 0 for 223 – another unwanted record he would like to forget. But Ackerman and Mulder were brilliant, embracing each other as they reached their big sights.

The pitch also remained flat for batting, with a total of fourteen wickets falling in four days.