Record Ahmed-Hill stand gives Foxes the upper hand

A record-breaking partnership between Rehan Ahmed and Lewis Hill gave league-leading Leicestershire a dominant position at the end of the second day of the Rothesay County Championship match against Lancashire at the Uptonsteel County Ground.

Ahmed, with his first-class best of 136, and Hill, whose 119 was his first three-figure score for two seasons, put on 256 for the third wicket, a championship-best for Leicestershire's third wicket against Lancashire, beating a record dating back to 1929.

Lancashire's bowlers stuck at their task, picking up seven wickets throughout the afternoon and evening sessions, but a half-century from all-rounder Ian Holland helped the Foxes close with an intimidating 251 run lead.

They also picked up all five batting bonus points, completing a maximum bonus point return from the game.

The partnership between Hill and Ahmed, not out overnight on 29 and 26 respectively, was all the more admirable for the fact conditions at the start of play were very much in the bowlers' favour, the previous day's sunshine having given way to overnight rain and heavy cloud cover.

The two right-handers faced a real battle for the first hour, with Lancashire seamers Tom Bailey and George Balderson both beating the bat on several occasions. No chances were created however, the nearest either batsman coming to dismissal being when Ahmed called Hill through for a single that would have sent his team-mate back to the pavilion had Josh Bohannon's throw not missed the stumps by a whisker.

Hill's determination to be positive paid off however, notably when he walked down to the pitch to Will Williams and lofted the New Zealand-born seamer for the sweetest of straight sixes. Ahmed, while being impressively determined in defence, also began to unveil some characteristically flamboyant shots: both feet were off the ground when he flayed consecutive short deliveries from Anderson Phillip to the cover boundary before going to his 50 by whipping the same bowler through square leg.

Hill was keeping pace, reaching his 50 with a top edged cut that sailed high over the slips. If that was unorthodox, two perfectly timed on-drives had the purists purring. By lunch 130 runs had been added to the score and the Lancashire attack was looking understandably deflated.

They looked even more so an hour into the afternoon session, when Hill and Ahmed cut loose. They passed the county's championship record third wicket partnership against Lancashire, 163 compiled by Walter Bradshaw and Norman Armstrong in 1929, and then the first class record of 165, compiled rather more recently by Ben Slater and Colin Ackermann in the Bob Willis Trophy in 2020 before Ahmed was first to a hundred - his second against Lancashire in as many matches.

It came with a cut down to third, his 14th four, and occupied 164 balls. Hill followed, his century coming off 150 deliveries and including 14 fours and the six, and both accelerated thereafter before Ahmed sliced at drive at the left-arm spin of Tom Hartley, giving Keaton Jennings a straightforward catch at short third man.

Hartley also picked up the wicket of Hill, caught behind cutting at a ball which bounced more than he expected, before captain Peter Handscomb edged an Anderson Phillip out-swinger to Jennings at second slip.

A partnership of 76 between Holland and Ben Cox pushed Leicestershire close to 400 before Holland, Logan van Beek and the tail steered the Foxes past 450.