County Championship: Hassan Azad century earns Leicestershire draw with Worcestershire

Hassan Azad faced 280 balls as he batted throughout Leicestershire's second innings to earn his side a draw

A defiant century by Leicestershire opener Hassan Azad and a last-wicket stand spanning an hour and 38 minutes denied Worcestershire victory after a tense finish to their County Championship Division Two clash.

Leicestershire had been set 370 to win after Worcestershire declared overnight, but the 28-year-old left-hander batted throughout the final day to make 104 not out as the Foxes finished on 218-9, with last man Beuran Hendricks keeping out 60 deliveries at the other end.

Worcestershire had looked odds-on to win after reducing their hosts to 122-7 midway through the afternoon session, as teenage spinner Josh Baker produced a career-best 4-51.

But Azad's vigil lasted six hours and 18 minutes and to compound their frustration, the Pears missed a chance to remove Azad on 75 at 153-8 when wicketkeeper Ben Cox spilled a legside catch off seamer Ed Barnard.

• Day one: Leicestershire v Worcestershire

• Day two: Leicestershire v Worcestershire

• Day three: Leicestershire v Worcestershire

Worcestershire hoped the Azad drop would prove unimportant after Dillon Pennington's appeal for lbw against Chris Wright was upheld, leaving the home side nine down for 173 with more than 25 overs still to play. But Hendricks defied all attempts to get him out with an assuredness that only grew as the overs ticked by.

Leicestershire are immediately back in action with a trip to Durham on Thursday, but Worcestershire have an extra week to prepare for their first home game of the season, against Sussex at New Road on 21 April.

Leicestershire centurion Hassan Azad:

"After struggling with some technical stuff last year I worked hard during the winter so it is definitely very special to see that pay off. I will remember this innings for a long time.

"In a situation like that, I try to break the day down by time but also to go through the same routines for every ball, to take yourself out of the situation in the game and just stay in the moment. And, at the end, I had complete confidence in Beuran. His demeanour relaxed me completely.

"Even though we didn't win, it will give the players a lot of confidence to have rescued the game from the position we were in."

Worcestershire head coach Alex Gidman:

"I'm just gutted for the players. We just couldn't quite get over the line at the end.

"The wicket got slower and harder as the game went on, but massive credit to Azad - to bat for 300-odd balls on the last day to save the game was very special.

"We played some outstanding cricket, first to have got ourselves out of a little hole at 45-4 with some wonderful batting in the first innings, then some great seam bowling to get those first 10 wickets. We then had to do something very special to get ourselves in a position to win with some batting on the third evening that was very good to watch."

Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network