Round 3 of the English County Championship is in the books which proved to be another auspicious occasion for the Pakistani contingent applying their trade in England.
Mohammad Abbas helped Hampshire take the no1 spot in the Division 1 rankings while others like Zafar Gohar continued to find their feet in the tournament.
Mohammad Abbas for Hampshire against Northamptonshire:
Abbas followed up his brilliant round 2 performance by notching 2/33 and 4/31 against Northamptonshire on their turf in the two innings to help Hampshire beat their opponents by an inning and 270 runs.
Hampshire now sits atop the Division I rankings with Abbas leading the wicket-takers charts with 21 scalps from just three games.
He will have a chance to improve his numbers when his side faces Hasan Ali’s Warwickshire next on May 4th.
Zafar Gohar for Gloucestershire against Azhar Ali and Worcestershire:
In a match that pitted two Pakistani players against each other neither side could get the better of the other as the match ended in a draw.
Zafar managed to score 22 runs in the first innings while taking 0/15 with the ball from his 11 overs.
Azhar Ali had another below-par game with the bat, scoring 0 and 9 runs in two innings for his side.
Despite the draw, Worcestershire sits second in the Division II table with Zafar Gohar’s Gloucestershire sitting 6th.
Azhar will get a chance to earn reprieve when his side faces Sussex next on May 4th while Zafar will take on Sussex as well in their next fixture on April 27th.
Hasan Ali and Haider Ali did not feature in the English County Championship Round 3 with their teams having a bye-week.
Hasan’s Warwickshire will take on Surrey next on April 27th while Haider’s Derbyshire will face Durham on the same date.
