Pakistan’s star pacer, Hasan Ali, and opening batter, Shan Masood, were the stars of the show in the third round of the County Championship. Shan continued his tremendous run of form as he struck his second consecutive double century in the competition while Hasan bounced back to form after a disastrous few months with the national team as he picked up nine wickets in the match. Both the players played influential roles in victories for their respective sides.
The likes of Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi, Zafar Gohar, and Mohammad Abbas also put in solid showings for their respective sides while experienced players Mohammad Rizwan and Azhar Ali failed to deliver for the second time in a row.
Shan Masood has been in a rich vein of form in all three formats of the game over the past year. After piling on the runs in Pakistan’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, National T20 Cup, Pakistan Cup, and Pakistan Super League (PSL), Shan has taken the County Championship by storm as well. Shan scored 219 off 268 balls in the first innings as Derbyshire defeated Leicestershire by an innings and 68 runs.
Hasan Ali was exceptional for Lancashire as he picked up nine wickets in the match including a six-wicket haul in the first innings as they defeated Zafar Gohar’s Gloucestershire by an innings and 57 runs. Hasan had figures of 6/47 and 3/49 in the two innings. Zafar too had a decent outing as he picked up figures of 4/135 in the only innings he bowled in. He also scored 27 runs in the first innings.
Mohammad Abbas and Shaheen Afridi picked up 4 wickets each in their respective matches. Shaheen dismissed world number one Test batter, Marnus Labuschagne, twice in the match as Middlesex defeated Glamorgan by an innings and 82 runs. Shaheen finished with figures of 3/35 and 1/34. Meanwhile, Abbas finished with figures of 3/57 and 1/52 as Hampshire bear Kent by an innings and 51 runs.
Haris Rauf picked up three wickets in the match as Yorkshire and Northamptonshire played out a draw. Rauf picked up 1/52 in the first innings and 2/76 in the second innings.
Mohammad Rizwan did not trouble the scorers as he scored a duck in the first innings and followed it up with a score of only 4 in the second innings as Sussex lost to Azhar Ali’s Worcestershire by an innings and 34 runs. Azhar could only score 20 runs in the only innings he played in the match.