Leicestershire secure a draw against Gloucestershire to confirm their promotion
Pakistan’s Test skipper Shan Masood has repeated history with Leicestershire to end their prolonged 22-year wait for earning promotion to Division One of the County Championship. Masood, on debut for them, played an instrumental game, scoring a crucial hundred to help Leicestershire secure a draw against Gloucestershire and confirm their promotion.
While Masood spent the entire season with Yorkshire to seal County Championship promotion last year, he played a crucial role on his debut for Leicestershire, who earned promotion after 22 years.
Masood led Yorkshire, the most successful club in the County Championship, in the 2023-24 season. He had made an immediate impact, amassing 1240 runs from 15 matches, averaging a staggering 53. His stint for the 32-time champions proved to be crucial in gaining promotion back to Division One in 2024. His stellar form and captaincy raised expectations for the next season.
The left-hand batter joined Leicestershire on an all-format contract for 2025. On his debut for Leicestershire, the 35-year-old, who replaced Australia’s Peter Handscomb, smashed a crucial century under pressure, recovering the side from 86 for 3.
Batting at no. 5, Masood scored 111 runs off 176 balls, featuring 13 fours. In the process, the southpaw batter also completed his 12000 first class runs. He had forged a strong 152-run stand for the fourth wicket with Lewis Hill, who scored 88 off just 131 balls with 15 fours. The partnership allowed the visitors to go close to Gloucestershire’s first innings total.
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Leicestershire needed a win to confirm their promotion; a draw would have done it anyway depending on the result of the match between Middlesex and Derbyshire at Lord’s. However, with still two more games remaining in the season, the three-time champions would look to top the Division Two.
This draw marked the first Division One promotion for Leicestershire since the tournament adopted two division formats. They last featured in Division One in 2003 and have since been playing in Division two, finishing last on eight occasions. During September 2012 to June 2015, Leicestershire registered a winless streak of 37 matches and over 933 days.
Coming to the match front, Gloucestershire, who took 140-run first innings lead, declared the innings just before lunch on 175/3 in their second innings. This gave themselves an outside chance, leaving 74 overs and 316-runs for their bowlers on the final day. Leicestershire were 93/1 from 30.3 overs before the rain interrupted the game before it was called off.
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