Pakistan quick Hasan Ali made a memorable impact on his Lancashire debut, making a pair of crucial interventions late on the final day in his side’s Division One clash away to Kent.

Lancashire began day four at Canterbury well on top, with Kent floundering on 81-6 in their second innings still trailing the visitors by 165 runs. A victory seemed inevitable for Lancashire and while they did eventually claim it they were made to toil hard for their rewards after a herculean eighth wicket stand between Ben Compton and Hamidullah Qadri threatened to secure an unlikely draw for the home side.

Compton, who carried his bat in the first innings, notched his fifth first-class hundred of the year and his third for Kent in just his second appearance for the county. Off-spinner Qadri registered the first half-century of his career as the pair spent over three hours together at the crease.

Their stand was broken by Hasan, who pierced through Qadri’s defence with a searing in-ducker that rattled into the Kent youngster’s stumps. The Pakistan quick repeated the trick soon after, clean bowling Nathan Gilchrist with a similar delivery that moved late into the tail-ender. Former England U19 captain George Balderson claimed the final Kent wicket to leave Lancashire needing 34 to win in the final session, a target they reached with ease.

Hasan finished the match with figures of 5-94 as Lancashire started their 2022 County Championship campaign with a win.

You can watch Hasan’s pair of late breakthroughs below:

A wonderful delivery from Hasan Ali to remove Hamidullah Qadri, bringing his 195-minute stay at the crease to an end.#CountyCricket2022pic.twitter.com/goTpazzEbV

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) April 17, 2022

1⃣ wicket away… 🤞

🌹 #RedRoseTogether | @RealHa55an pic.twitter.com/pmaKoDiXwV

— Lancashire Cricket (@lancscricket) April 17, 2022