Masood hits century for Leics against Glos
Shan Masood's century for Leicestershire was his 30th in first-class cricket
- Published
Rothesay County Championship Division Two, Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester (day three)
Gloucestershire 482 & 10-0: Van Buuren 101*, Charlesworth 74, Bracey 69, Akhter 64
Leicestershire 342: Masood 111, Hill 88; Taylor 5-70, Singh Dale 3-78
Glos (7 pts) lead Leics (4 pts) by 150 runs
If Leicestershire's vision was to clinch promotion to Division One with a resounding victory, it looks unlikely to come to pass this week after a truncated third day of their County Championship match left them trailing Gloucestershire by 150 runs.
Shan Masood compiled a typically elegant 111 to mark his first-class debut for the county with the 30th hundred of his career, but Leicestershire then lost their last six wickets for 22 to trail by 140 on first innings, bowled out for 342 as Gloucestershire seamer Matt Taylor finished with 5-70, backed up by new-ball partner Ajeet Singh Dale's 3-78.
Gloucestershire - who need a victory to keep their outside chance of promotion alive - were eight without loss from four overs in their second innings before a three-hour interruption due to rain, adding just two runs before a resumption at 17:30 BST was curtailed after just 13 deliveries due to bad light.
With earlier rain having delayed the start by 70 minutes, just 30 overs and one ball were bowled in all.
Even if a win eludes them, Leicestershire's lead in the division is so large that a top-two finish can still be confirmed this week if this match ends in a draw, and the clash between third-placed Derbyshire and fourth-placed Middlesex at Lord's is also drawn.
Masood faced 176 balls and hit 13 fours on the way to his eighth first-class hundred in county cricket, having previously made them for Derbyshire and Yorkshire. The left-hander will be 36 next month but retains the capacity to produce moments of sublime skill at the crease, which he underlined with some beautiful stroke play in this innings.
After his 152-run partnership with Lewis Hill on Tuesday had seemed to set up Leicestershire for a substantial reply, there seemed little to suggest that would not happen as a second batting bonus point was secured in a morning session reduced to 50 minutes with Masood and Steve Eskinazi, also making his Championship debut for a new county, having added 82.
But that all changed with the last delivery of the session, which resulted in Masood being given out leg before - the former Pakistan Test captain's body language leaving no doubt that the decision did not meet with his approval.
Masood's dismissal was the catalyst for an unseemly collapse from 320-4 to 342 all out, with the follow-on only just avoided.
Having put off taking the second new ball until after lunch, Gloucestershire took it immediately after the break and needed only 10 overs' use of it to claim the remaining five Leicestershire wickets.
Taylor, who had three wickets overnight, beat Ben Cox for pace, and had Ben Mike nicking behind to complete his first five-wicket haul in two years.
New-ball partner Singh Dale, bound for Lancashire at the end of the season, gained deserved rewards as ex-Middlesex batter Eskinazi's county debut innings ended on 34 with a catch at second slip.
Logan van Beek and Chris Wright became the fourth and fifth batters in the innings to fall leg before, Wright having at least hung around long enough to ensure that the visitors would bat again after the ninth wicket had gone with still one run needed.
Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network, supported by Rothesay
