Eye-balls of many cricket fans rolled when they checked the scorecard of the ongoing 2018 Irani Cup between Vidarbha and Rest of India. Vidarbha batting first crossed the 800-run mark which sparked a debate about intent and usefulness of such landmarks. The debate was settled quickly as Gurbani slashed through ROI batsmen. Yet it is interesting to trace the scores of 800-plus in first-class cricket.
Coming back to the Irani trophy 2018, Vidarbha’s openers started solid on day one. Fazal and Ramaswamy, Vidarbha’s highest run-getters in the recently concluded Ranji Trophy scored 101 runs for the first wicket. Fazal added a further 117 runs with the veteran Wasim Jaffer.
Continuing the flow, Jaffer and Ganesh Satish stitched a partnership of 289 runs for the third wicket. After Satish got out for 120, Apurv Wankhade stepped in his shoes and scored a not out 157 runs for himself. Jaffer at the other end journeyed to a record 286 runs.
Also Read: Wasim Jaffer Breaks Surinder Amarnath’s 38-Year Old Record
All these batting heroics led Vidarbha to the humongous total of 800 much to the bewilderment of fans. This undoubtedly is the highest score in the history of Irani Trophy going past the previous score of 737/7 dec. by Rest of India.
The feat of 800 runs in an innings is a rare feat in cricket. The last instance of 800-plus scores occurred in Test cricket twenty years ago when Sri Lankan batsmen showed no mercy on Indian bowlers and in a marathon effort managed a legendary of 952/7dec. which still stands as the highest ever total in Test cricket.
The last occurrence of such mountain of runs in the Ranji Trophy is owned by Hyderabad, who ironically owns the record for the lowest score in the same tournament. In the season 1993-94, Hyderabad in reply to Andhra’s 263 raised a total of 944 runs at the loss of six wickets. MV Shridhar top-scored with 366, Vivek Jaisimha made 211 and Noel David supported with 207. This is also the highest ever team score in Ranji Trophy history.
Vidarbha declares their innings on 800/7. They are the first team to post 800 in First-Class cricket since 2010 and the first team to do it Indian FC since 1995. #ROIvVID #IraniCup
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) March 17, 2018
In the Indian first-class matches other than Ranji Trophy, the record goes to North Zone who plundered 868 runs against West Zone in 1987 Duleep Trophy Final. Raman Lamba top-scored 320 well supported by his captain Madan Lal who scored 107.
