Masood becomes first ever Pakistani to score consecutive double hundreds in County

Pakistan left-handed opener Shan Masood is having a stellar time in the ongoing County championship in the United Kingdom.

The southpaw, on Friday (April 22), registered his name in record books as he became the first-ever Pakistani batter to hammer back-to-back double-centuries in the First-Class competition.

Masood, who had smashed 239 for Derbyshire against Sussex last week, backed it up with another pristine, whirlwind 267-ball 219 against Leicestershire in the ongoing Division Two fixture on Friday.

The 32-year old batter was eventually dismissed by Callum Parkinson but not before he had become only the second Pakistani batter ever to score consecutive double-centuries in First-Class cricket.

He joined Arshad Parvez, the first to achieve the feat back in 1978 when he scored 243 & 236 in BCCP Patron's Trophy. However, the Pakistan opener is the first man from his nation to score two successive tons in County cricket.

The southpaw has also become only the second Asian to achieve such a feat in the county championship, joining Nawab Iftikharuddin, who hammered 231 and 224 for Worcestershire back in 1933.

Masood is making a more than good enough case to earn a recall to the Test team.

His scores in the county championship- 91, 62, 239, 219– have come at an astonishing average of 152.75.

The southpaw last represented Pakistan in a Test during the 2020/21 tour of New Zealand. He was overlooked for the recent home series against the Australians, with the selectors opting for Iman-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique.

Thus far, he has represented Pakistan in 25 Tests since making his debut in 2013, scoring 1378 runs at an average of a shade under 30 with the help of 10 50+ scores, including four hundreds.

As far as the ongoing county game is concerned, Masood's 219 and half-centuries from Wayne Madsen (94) and MH McKiernan (63) have helped Derbyshire claim a 224-run first-innings lead over Leicestershire.

Derbyshire finished the day at 437/4, in response to Leicestershire's total of 213, and they will look to further pile on the misery when play resumes on Saturday.