Indian cricket team breaks 129-year-old batting record

An Indian cricket team has broken a 129-year-old first-class record, with nine batters hitting half-centuries in the Ranji Trophy.

An Indian cricket team has broken a 129-year-old first-class record, with nine batters hitting half-centuries in the domestic Ranji Trophy.

Bengal amassed a mammoth 773 for 7 declared on Wednesday in the first innings of their quarter-final against Jharkhand in Bangalore.

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Two batsmen scored centuries – Sudip Gharami top-scoring with 186 – while the other seven that took to the crease all passed fifty.

Their innings beat a first-class record that had stood since 1893, when a touring Australian side made eight half-centuries in an 843-run innings against a combined team from Oxford and Cambridge universities in Portsmouth, England.

“What a team, what an effort! Proud to be a part of it,” Bengal batter Manoj Tiwary, who scored 73, wrote on Twitter.

India’s cricket board hailed Bengal’s feat as a “milestone in first-class cricket”.

The frame will go down as a piece of diamond in the folklore of Bengal as well as #RanjiTrophy cricket history! What a team, what an effort! Proud to be a part of it… Joy Bangla! 🏏#TeamBengalpic.twitter.com/DVE6XV1PFj

— MANOJ TIWARY (@tiwarymanoj) June 8, 2022

All the Top 8 batsman of Bengal has scored fifty or more in the quarter final - first time in Ranji Trophy history. pic.twitter.com/uXKhVBPmrO

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) June 8, 2022

Jharkhand were 212/7 in reply in their first innings, trailing by 561 runs, at lunch on Thursday’s fourth day of the five-day match.

The Ranji Trophy is named after Maharaja Ranjitsinhji, an Indian prince who played for England in the 1890s.

Fullscorecard

Abhishek Raman – 61 off 109 (st Kushagra b Roy)

Abhimanyu Easwaran (c) – 65 off 124 (lbw b Mishra)

Sudip Jumar Gharami -186 off 380 (c Kushagra b Shukla)

Anustup Majumdar – 117 off 194 (c sub Bal Krishna b Mishra)

Manoj Tiwary – 73 off 173 (c Utkarsh Singh b Mishra)

Aibshek Porel – 68 off 111 (c Kushagra b Mishra)

Shahbaz Ahmed – 78 off 124 (c Kushagra b Nadeem)

Sayan Mondal – 53 off 85 (not out)

Akash Deep – 53 off 18 (not out)

Did not bat – Ishan Porel, Mukesh Kumar

Total – 773/7d off 218.4 overs (RR: 3.53)

– AFP

Originally published as Indian cricket team breaks 129-year-old batting record