Madan Hits Unbeaten Double Century As U18s Beat Yorkshire

Leicestershire CCC Under 18s completed a resounding nine-wicket win over Yorkshire on Thursday in the first of their 2024 County Championship fixtures.

A fantastic individual performance from EPP star Jay Madan inspired Jigar Naik’s side at Weetwood, with the opener carrying his bat for an unbeaten double hundred in the first innings and anchoring a final day chase with 87 not out in the second dig.

The 18-year-old has already shone for the U18 T20 side this summer, finishing as the side’s leading run-scorer as they qualified for finals day of the ECB U18 T20 County Competition in September.

Left-arm spinner Ali Farooq was the other stand-out performer for the Foxes, taking four wickets in Yorkshire’s second innings, including the scalp of Noah Kelly who made a ton of his own.

Yorkshire elected to bat after winning the toss and made 220, with captain Liam Tew the main contributor for Leicestershire - taking 3/46 in his 13-over spell.

The home side were bowled out just before tea on day one leaving the Foxes with plenty of time in the evening session to bat. With Madan unbeaten on 80, Leicestershire reached 138/4 at the close of play.

Madan continued where he left off the next morning, oozing class as he managed to go to his fifth Foxes hundred, made from 149 balls.

Despite his superb knock, with his team at 186/7, Madan knew he had to keep going and he found excellent support in his captain Liam Tew. The pair put on an expert 112-run eighth-wicket partnership with Tew contributing 49 of them to add to his three wickets in the first innings.

Madan was then joined by Farooq and they produced another big partnership of 90, with Farooq scoring a 36 that included a couple of sixes.

It was Madan who will rightly take the plaudits though, as he hit Tom Bradley to the ropes to bring up a stunning double century off 261 balls - steering Leicestershire to 388 all out and a lead of 168 from a position where they once stared at a first innings deficit.

Yorkshire responded well to a tricky morning as openers Tom Fraine and Will Bennison put on 60 for the first wicket, followed by a second wicket partnership of 108 when Noah Kelly arrived at the crease.

Kelly had done much of the scoring in his partnership with Fraine, and when the latter fell for 73 he continued in fine form alongside Owen Smith to make a century in 191 balls.

The pair put on another 78 runs but lost their wickets in quick succession. First Owen Smith was caught by Jacob Townsend off the bowling off Keshav Sthanakiya and two balls later Ali Farooq, who had earlier bowled Bennison, ended Noah Kelly’s time at the crease.

From there the middle and lower order seemed to collapse as Yorkshire lost their last eight wickets for just 64 runs. Farooq starred with the ball, taking four of the wickets to finish with figures of 4/86. Sthanakiya also bowled a clinical spell, claiming three wickets in 12.3 overs.

That left Leicestershire requiring 143 to win, which was completed with only the loss of one wicket. Jay Madan fittingly hit the winning runs, as he once again took centre stage with an unbeaten 87, ending the match on 309 runs without losing his wicket.

He made them batting alongside the returning Jamie Dunk, with the Scotland U19 star tallying 37 not out on his comeback from a six-week injury layoff.

Leicestershire U18s are back in three-day action on Tuesday (30 July), taking on Nottinghamshire at Uppingham School.