LONDON: Former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali scored his maiden double century as he helped Worcestershire rewrite the record books in an English County Championship match against Leicestershire.
Azhar and former England’s Jack Haynes put on 281 for the third wicket – a record partnership against Leicestershire, surpassing the 278 by Cyril Walters and Harold Gibbons in 1934.
Their stand was the cornerstone of Worcestershire’s 456 for three, a lead of 308, at stumps on the second day of four at New Road.
2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀𝐙𝐇𝐀𝐑 𝐀𝐋𝐈 👑
AZHAR ALI TAKE A BOW 🙌
A magnificent innings just got even better. A double hundred for Azhar Ali!
Incredible @AzharAli_ 👊
💚 #WeAreWorcestershire | 🍐 #Pears pic.twitter.com/pIQHKs4VFL
— Worcestershire County Cricket Club (@WorcsCCC) May 20, 2022
Haynes was eventually dismissed for 127 but Azhar reached his double century in the final over of the day. By that stage Azhar had faced 328 balls, with one six and 18 fours, and also shared another century stand with Brett D’Oliveira (52 not out).
The 37-year-old batter was not having a good time in the ongoing county championship early on where he only managed to score 34 runs in the first six innings of the county championship.
However, soon his bat started scoring runs, he scored consecutive three half-centuries followed by a brilliant double century. Azhar is the second Pakistani player to score a double century in the ongoing county championship as Shan Masood while representing Derbyshire has scored two double centuries earlier.
The former captain has represented Pakistan in 94 test matches with a batting average of 43.07 including nineteen hundred and 35 fifties. Azhar is expected to be available for a full summer of the ongoing County Championship in England.
