Top 5 highest individual scores in first-class cricket
First-class cricket has always been a platform for the players to get into the international side and big innings get noted by the selectors while picking up the national squads. Some of the international players have also enjoyed playing first-class cricket to get back their form and they have ended with huge scores as well. It takes a huge amount of concentration for the batters to play long innings. Here are the top five highest individual scores in first-class cricket.
Bill Ponsford – 437
William Harold Ponsford played a fantastic inning of 437 while opening for Victoria against Queensland in the 1927 Sheffield Shield tournament. Ponsford hit 42 fours in his brilliant knock and helped his side to victory by an innings and 197 runs. This is also the sixth-highest individual score in first-class cricket.
Bhausaheb Nimbalkar – 443*
In the 1948 Ranji Trophy game between Kathiawar and Maharashtra, Bhausaheb Nimbalkar scored a massive unbeaten 443 coming in at three. The right-hander hit 49 fours and one six in his superlative innings and helped side win the game by a big lead in the first innings. Nimbalkar was a handy medium-pacer as well but never made it to the Indian team in his career.
Don Bradman – 452*
In 1930, Don Bradman played a stupendous knock of an unbeaten 452 off 465 deliveries in the Sheffield Shield game for New South Wales against Queensland. The right-hander was dismissed for just three in the first innings, and he made up for it with a giant knock that included 49 fours. Bradman averaged 99.94 in Test cricket for Australia, a feat that will be in the history books for a long time.
Hanif Mohammad – 499
Hanif Mohammad created history in 1959 in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy when he played a monumental knock of 499 for Karachi against Bahawalpur. The right-hander hit 64 fours in his innings and was unfortunate to miss out on getting to the 500-run landmark as he was dismissed run out. It was the highest individual score in first-class cricket for a long time.
Brian Lara – 501*
Brian Lara holds the record for the highest individual score in first-class cricket and it came in a county championship game for Warwickshire against Durham in 1994. Lara came in at number three for Warwickshire and stayed unbeaten on 501 off just 427 deliveries that included 62 fours and 10 sixes. The West Indian is considered to be one of the greatest cricketers of all time and he remains the only cricketer so far to score 400 runs in an innings in Tests.
