Pakistan cricketer Bilal Irshad created history as he became the first player to score a triple century in a one-day match. The 26-year-old from Sindh smashed 320 off 175 balls for his local club Shaheed Alam Bux Cricket Club in the game against Al Rehman CC in the Fazal Mahmood Inter-club Cricket Championship.
The tournament is an initiative by the Pakistan Cricket Board to scout for talent across 98 districts.
Bilal’s 320 off 175 balls included 42 fours and nine sixes and it put him in an illustrious club. The highest List A score in cricket history is 268 by England’s Ali Brown for Surrey against Glamorgan during the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy tournament in June 2002, Hindustan Times reported.
The highest score in One-day Internationals is 264 by Rohit Sharma against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens in 2014. Overall, 21 players have managed to score over 200 in a List A game, with Alan Barrow being the first player in history to achieve this feat when he smashed 202 for Natal against a South African XI in the Gillette Cup in October 1975.
Bilal shared a 364-run partnership for the second wicket with Zakir Hussain. Their stand is the second-highest stand in List A cricket, behind the 372-run stand between Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels for West Indies in the 2015 ICC World Cup encounter against Zimbabwe in Canberra. The efforts of Bilal and Zakir Hussain enabled Shaheed Alam Bux Cricket Club reach 556/4 in 50 overs.
The highest total in the history of List A cricket is 496/4 by Surrey against Gloucestershire at The Oval in April 2007. Shaheed Alam Bux Cricket Club went on to win the match by 411 runs. The largest victory margin in the history of List A cricket is 346 runs by Somerset against Devon in Torquay during the 1990 season.
Freak scores in cricket
Bilal Irshad’s effort of 320 in an one-dayer continues the trend of freak scores in cricket. In February 2017, Delhi player Mohit Ahlawat blasted 302 off 72 balls (14 boundaries and 39 sixes) in the Friends Premier League, a Delhi local tournament, for Maavi XI against Friends XI. He was selected in the Delhi Daredevils team for IPL 2017 but did not play a game.
In January 2016, Pranav Dhanawade became the first cricketer ever to notch up a four-figure score by smashing an unbeaten knock of 1,009 in an inter-school tournament.
The 15-year-old’s knock included 129 fours and 59 sixes during the match at the Union Cricket Academy ground in Kalyan and this effort helped his school declare on 1465/3, which was also a record for the highest ever team score.