An Indian team broke a record that had stood since 1893 during a domestic Ranji Trophy match.
Nine of Bengal’s batsmen hit half-centuries as the team amassed a mammoth 773-7 declared on Wednesday in the first innings of their quarter-final against Jharkhand in Bangalore.
Two batsmen scored centuries – Sudip Gharami top-scoring with 186.
It beat a first-class record set 129 years ago, 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,” batsman Manoj Tiwary, who scored 73, wrote on Twitter.
The BCCI hailed Bengal’s feat as a “milestone in first-class cricket”.
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.
© Agence France-Presse
