Chad Bowes, the New Zealand opener made a new record in List A cricket on Wednesday as he became the first man to strike a double century in men’s List A cricket in fewer than 104 balls. Batting for Canterbury against Otago in the Ford Trophy, Bowes reached his double century in just 103 balls before being dismissed for 205 runs off 110 deliveries. The remarkable feat broke the previous record shared between Australia’s Travis Head and India’s N Jagadeesan, who had also both finished their double centuries in 114 deliveries. Travis Head achieved it for South Australia against Queensland in the 2021-22 Marsh Cup, whereas Jagadeesan set that record during a brilliant 277-ball innings against Arunachal Pradesh in the 2022 Vijay Hazare Trophy.
WATCH- Chad Bowes Sets A New World Record
A world record for Chad Bowes! Brings up his double century from just 103 balls for Canterbury! Travis Head and Narayan Jagadeesan with the previous List A record of 114 balls. LIVE stream + HIGHLIGHTS | https://t.co/XdSuQE7ceZ #FordTrophy pic.twitter.com/mNZe65UEtE
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‘I’m Glad It Was My Day’: Says Chad Bowes
It might sink in over the next day or two, but obviously a great day here at Hagley and a good occasion to do something special,” he said after his innings.
“These things happen naturally, organically. You don’t plan for it or try to do it, so I’m glad it was my day. Probably not [hit the ball] consistently that well, so it was nice to get most of them out of the middle and hit it around the park. It started off really nicely so I just kept going and it was working so I didn’t try to rein it in too much and just kept the foot on the gas.”
Chad Bowes’ Explosive Knock
The 32-year-old Chad Bowes exploded off the blocks as well, and such is his intent, that even when his opening partner Henry Nicholls fell for a duck off just five balls in the innings. Bowes reached his half-century in a blistering 26 balls and celebrated his century in just 53 deliveries.
He needed 50 more balls to achieve his double century before he was dismissed LBW by Matthew Bacon in the 39th over, who had impressive figures of five wickets. Apart from Cole McConchie, no other batsman of Canterbury’s top seven, excluding him, could score double digits. He scored 27 off 40 balls as the second-highest run-scorer. However, No. 8 Zakary Foulkes was a significant contributor, scoring 49 off 46 balls to take the team toward the 350-mark. In return, Canterbury tore Otago apart for just 103 runs and won the game by a spectacular 240 runs.
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This was Bowes’s highest score in List A cricket, much better than his previous best of 126.
