Josh Hull's 97 Gives Leicestershire Hope Against Nottinghamshire

Josh Hull, nightwatchman on the teamsheet, middle‑order rock in reality, turned Trent Bridge on its head with an astonishing 97 that has given Leicestershire a fighting chance of denying Nottinghamshire a victory they badly need in the County Championship title race.

Nottinghamshire’s 451-8 declared, built around Jack Haynes’ 159 and Liam Patterson-White’s unbeaten 111, looked like the sort of total that crushes struggling sides. Leicestershire, second from bottom and staring down the barrel in the relegation fight, were expected to fold.

Hull had other ideas.

Nightwatchman turned unlikely hero

Sent in late on day two to shield the recognised batters, the 22-year-old left-armer walked out with a first-class record that barely registered: only three double-figure scores in 34 innings, a top score of 35. By the time he trudged off on 97 on day three, he had rewritten his own story and the rhythm of this match.

He batted for five hours and 15 minutes. Faced 247 balls. Hit 10 fours and two sixes. And he did it with a composure that mocked his modest record.

Leicestershire, 23-2 overnight and with the ball still hard in humid conditions, looked ripe for Nottinghamshire’s seamers. Dillon Pennington, who had already struck twice the previous evening, steamed in again, sensing a quick kill. The script said wickets. Hull and Rehan Ahmed tore it up.

The pair survived to lunch, their third-wicket stand unbroken, adding exactly 50 in a truncated session of 21.3 overs after a delayed start. Ahmed played within himself, picking off six fours in a measured half-century from 86 balls. Hull, tall at 6ft 7ins and seemingly unflustered, defended with a clarity and discipline that suggested he had been doing this for years.

Milestones and missed chances

After the interval, Ahmed moved smoothly to his fifty, while Hull quietly passed a personal landmark of his own: he went beyond the 89 balls he faced in that unbeaten 35 against Kent at Canterbury last summer, his previous longest first-class stay. This was new territory, and he looked increasingly at home.

The partnership reached 83 in 33 overs before Pennington, as so often for Nottinghamshire, broke through. Ahmed edged to first slip, ending a stand that had dragged Leicestershire away from the brink and back towards respectability.

Hull, though, was only just getting started. His defiance began to harden into something bolder. He slog-swept Liam Patterson-White for a second six, then survived a life on 44 when wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne put him down. No panic. He simply drove Freddie McCann down the ground to move to a 158-ball fifty.

The reaction told its own story. Hull raised his bat with a sheepish grin as the entire Leicestershire balcony – players, coaches, backroom staff – rose to applaud. A nightwatchman had become the centrepiece.

With Hamza Shaikh, he added another 94 for the fourth wicket, draining Nottinghamshire’s energy and patience. The home attack kept coming, Olly Stone finally forcing an error as Jack Haynes clung on to a sharp chance at third slip to remove Shaikh.

Hull kept going. On 90, he offered Pennington a low return catch with the second new ball, the bowler only able to get fingertips to it. Nottinghamshire knew this was the wicket that mattered. The tension around the ground said as much.

Pennington came again. Hull, tired now, was late around a straight one and trapped in front for 97. No dream hundred, but an innings that felt every bit as significant.

Notts pushed, title defence tested

By the close, Leicestershire were 250-7, still 201 behind and 52 short of avoiding the follow-on. Nottinghamshire’s best chance of turning this into the victory they crave remains simple and brutal: knock over the tail cheaply, enforce the follow-on, and do it all again.

The context is sharp. With Somerset and Warwickshire both winning by an innings, Nottinghamshire have slipped to third in the table as it stands. Their defence of the title they won last season already looks like it will be decided by fine margins. Dropping points here, after such a dominant first-innings platform, would sting.

Their day became more complicated when Brett Hutton suffered an injury and had to be replaced at tea. On came Tom Giles, a 20-year-old rookie seamer on first-class debut, asked to fill the boots of one of Nottinghamshire’s most reliable operators in the middle of a draining afternoon.

He did not blink.

Giles steps up, Leicestershire hang on

Giles ran in with good pace, a whippy right-arm action, and quickly made an impression. Nick Kelly was put down at second slip, but Giles hit back, coming round the wicket and clipping off stump as the left-hander shouldered arms. It was the sort of dismissal that makes coaches sit up.

He then trapped Stephen Eskinazi leg before, finishing with 2-26 from 11 overs – a crucial contribution on a day when Nottinghamshire’s attack had to work hard for every success.

By stumps, Leicestershire were still in trouble but not broken. Next to bottom in the table, and with Surrey’s win over Yorkshire worsening their position, they know the broader picture remains bleak. Yet Hull’s 97 has given them a foothold in a match that threatened to run away from them before it had really begun.

Nottinghamshire still hold all the cards. A 201-run lead, a chance to enforce the follow-on, and a title race demanding ruthless finishes.

But one nightwatchman has already ripped up expectations once. How many more twists can this season take?