Ahmed’s ‘game of a lifetime’ for promotion-chasing Leics

“It was probably the game of my life,” I said.

Rehan Ahmed, an England all-rounder, delivered a clear statement in his description of Leicestershire’s dominant County Championship victory against Derbyshire last week, when he took 13 wickets and made a century with the bat.

A Leicestershire player has not taken 12 wickets or more and recorded a ton in the same game since the Victorian era.

Fred Geeson was the last to accomplish it in 1901.

The once-in-a-125-year performance by 20-year-old Ahmed was a major example of the kind of cricketer he aspires to be.

His development in the game was compared to Steve Smith’s, who started out as an all-around batsman for Australia and quickly established himself as a world-beating batsman.

Ahmed’s response to his career-defining performance at Central Co-op County Ground was infused with confidence.

He declared to BBC Radio Leicestershire, “I want to be a proper leg-spinner and proper batsman, and nothing else can stop me.”

“This is probably the game of my life,” said one participant, “and it’s nice to know that your work is paying off.”

Ahmed last played for England in an October test match.

Ahmed put on a show from the beginning against Derbyshire, which earned him the title of “Star-med” by the end.

In Leicestershire’s first inning, he was one of three Foxes players to record a century, with Lewis Hill leading the way with 151 points and Peter Handscomb collecting 101, setting the Division Two leaders on course for the 189-run victory that has them edged toward promotion.

Ahmed scored 115 in the championship for the third time in a row.

He followed that up with a superb spin on day two, bowling the hosts out for 189 with a 6-51 from 20 overs.

After that, he quickly put on a quickfire 26 with the bat to give Leicestershire the lead in the match, before scoring a match-winning 93 to increase his bowling stats to an astonishing 13-144 from 60 overs.

It was a sizable haul in a top-of-the-table clash of regional rivals who are both up for promotion.

After the match, Muhammad said, “This week was my week, but it was also Pete’s week; he received a 100 and Lewis Hill received a massive 150.