Hassan Azad hits unbeaten 83 as Leicestershire draw with Lancashire

Hassan Azad, with an unbeaten 83, finished as top run scorer in Division Two as the match between Leicestershire and Lancashire ended in a draw at the Fischer County Ground.

Damp areas on the outfield meant play began an hour late, meaning the game had already lost 173 overs to the weather before Leicestershire resumed their second innings on their overnight score of 40 for 1, a lead of 25.

The Foxes immediately lost captain Paul Horton, who had yet to add to his overnight 30 when he was comprehensively cleaned up by a Richard Gleeson delivery which removed both off and middle stumps.

With Azad playing an anchor role, Colin Ackermann came in and went for his shots, hitting eight fours in going to 37 from 47 balls at the interval, but his dismissal for 49, and that of Mark Cosgrove for just two soon afterwards, both edging Gleeson behind the wicket, signalled the end of any likelihood of Leicestershire declaring and offering Lancashire a late run chase.

Azad passed 50 for the eighth time this season, and was closing in on what would have been his fourth hundred and 1,200 runs for the Championship season - he finished with 1,189 - when the rain returned. Gleeson, who picked up six wickets in Leicestershire's first innings, finished with nine wickets in the match and 47 in the season.