Hridoy smashes 350, breaks Tamim’s FC record

Bangladesh ‘A’ skipper Tawhid Hridoy became the first Bangladeshi batter to score 350 runs in first-class cricket during the fourth and final day of the second four-day match against South Africa ‘A’ at NWC Oval in Potchefstroom on Wednesday.

Hridoy, who resumed on 204 overnight, continued his remarkable form and remained unbeaten on 350 off 481 balls, with 27 fours and 10 sixes, in a marathon knock as Bangladesh declared their first innings at 676 for eight to take a 164-run lead.

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South Africa ‘A’, who had earlier scored 512 in their first innings, reached 18 without loss before the two teams agreed to a draw.

Hridoy’s marathon innings saw him break several records.

The 25-year-old became only the third Bangladeshi batter to score a triple hundred in first-class cricket and surpassed Tamim Iqbal’s unbeaten 334 and Raqibul Hasan’s unbeaten 313 to register the highest first-class score by a Bangladeshi batter.

• Tawhid Hridoy became the first Bangladeshi batter to score 350 runs in first-class cricket.
• He became only the third Bangladeshi after Raqibul Hasan and Tamim Iqbal to score a triple century in first-class cricket and surpassed Tamim’s 334* and Raqibul’s 313* to record the highest first-class score by a Bangladeshi batter.
• Hridoy is the first Bangladeshi to score a first-class triple century outside Bangladesh.
• His 350 is the highest first-class score by an overseas batter in South Africa. Hridoy became only the second batter to score at least 350 in a first-class innings in South Africa, after Stephen Cook’s 390.

Raqibul was the first Bangladeshi batter to score a triple hundred when he made 313 not out for Barisal Division against Sylhet Division in a National Cricket League match at Fatullah in March 2007.

His record stood as the highest individual score in Bangladesh’s first-class cricket for 13 years before Tamim surpassed it with an unbeaten 334 for East Zone against Central Zone at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur in February 2020.

Tamim was quick to applaud Hridoy’s tremendous achievement and congratulate him on breaking his record.

“Scoring a 350-run innings anywhere, at any level and in any context, is a remarkable achievement. But if that innings comes in South Africa, it has to be described as extraordinary,” Tamim wrote on his Facebook page.

“They say records are meant to be broken. I am very happy that my record has been broken.

“Congratulations to Towhid Hridoy on making history. Becoming the first Bangladeshi batter to reach 350 is not just a personal achievement; it is also a symbol of the progress of cricket in the country,” he added.

Hridoy’s feat was also unique as he became the first Bangladeshi to score a triple hundred in first-class cricket outside the country. It was only the second instance of a visiting batter scoring a triple hundred in first-class cricket in South Africa.

England batter Denis Compton had earlier achieved the feat for MCC in the 1948-49 season, scoring 300. Hridoy’s 350 is now the highest first-class score by an overseas batter in South Africa.

Hridoy also became only the second batter after former South African opener Stephen Cook, who scored 390 in the 2009-10 season, to make at least 350 in a first-class innings in South Africa.

Despite the draw, South Africa ‘A’ won the two-match four-day series 1-0 after securing a massive innings-and-413-run victory in the opening game in Pretoria.

The two teams will now face each other in a three-match one-day series, with the first match scheduled to take place in Bloemfontein on September 6.