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St Lucia Kings picked up their maiden CPL trophy

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Zimbabwe's 344 for 4 breaks the record for highest T20 total



Sikandar Raza became Zimbabwe's first ever T20I centurion •

Zimbabwe shattered the record for the highest total in T20 cricket on Wednesday when they ran up 344 for 4 against Gambia in the men's T20 World Cup Africa sub-regional qualifier tournament. Sikandar Raza spearheaded the effort with a century - Zimbabwe's first one ever in the format - off just 33 balls. He eventually finished unbeaten on 133, with 15 sixes. His team-mates hit 12 more to set that record as well. Until now, Nepal had been the holders of the highest total (314) and the most sixes hit in an innings (26). Gambia in return were bundled out for 54 as Zimbabwe also posted the biggest-ever win (in terms of runs) in T20s.
The Ruaraka Sports Club Ground in Nairobi witnessed history on Wednesday with Zimbabwe showing great intent right from the first ball they faced. They brought up fifty in 3.2 overs. Tadiwanashe Marumani brought his up quicker, in just 13 balls. The team hundred was up before the powerplay was done and from there on it was an exercise of how far they could send the ball into the stands. There were 57 boundaries in the innings overall - which is also a T20 record - with four Zimbabwe batters contributing fifty-plus scores - another record. Brian Bennett made 50 of 26 and Clive Mandande got to 53 off 17 by hitting the final ball of the innings for six.

Raza, though, was the star of the show. He came into bat at the end of the seventh over, after the fielding restrictions had been relaxed, but it made no difference. He struck the third ball he faced for six and went on a run-scoring spree that made him the owner of the second-fastest century in T20I cricket. His 33-ball effort equalled Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton's, for Namibia against Nepal in February 2024.


Gambia, which is the smallest country in continental Africa, located to the west, could do very little to stop the run flow. Musa Jorbateh conceded the most runs by a bowler in a T20, his four overs going for 93. He was one of five bowlers to go for over 50 runs or more in their spell.

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Epic 606-run partnership! Goa batters forge highest-ever stand in Ranji Trophy's 90-year-old history



Goa batters Kashyap Bakle and Snehal Kauthankar made history in the Ranji Trophy, setting an incredible new record with an unbeaten 606-run partnership for the third wicket — the highest-ever in the tournament's storied 90-year old history.

Both Bakle (300*) and Kauthankar (314*) remained unbeaten as Goa declared their first innings at 727/2 on Thursday against Arunachal Pradesh (84 all out) in a Plate League match in Provorim, Goa.

The unbroken 606-run partnership between Kauthankar and Bakle is now the second-highest stand in first-class cricket history, surpassed only by the 624-run partnership between Sri Lankan legends Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene against South Africa in a 2006 Test match.

The record for the highest partnership in Ranji's history previously stood at 594*, achieved when Swapnil Gugale and Ankit Bawne batted together for Maharashtra against Delhi during the 2016-17 season.
Bakle and Kauthankar displayed remarkable resilience, skill, and determination, frustrating their opponents and etching their names in the record books. This historic achievement has placed them among the legends of the Ranji Trophy.

Remarkably, this is only the second time in Ranji history that two triple centuries have been scored in the same innings. The first such instance occurred in the 1989-90 season, when Tamil Nadu's WV Raman and AG Kripal Singh slammed triple hundreds against Goa.

Earlier on Day 1, Goa pacer Arjun Tendulkar, son of Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, claimed his maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old left-arm seamer finished with impressive figures of 5 for 25 in 9 overs, which included three maiden overs. This achievement came in his 17th first-class match, as Arjun spearheaded the collapse of the Arunachal Pradesh batting lineup.

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7 all out! Ivory Coast collapse against Nigeria to record lowest men's T20I total

The 264-run win placed Nigeria at No. 3 in the list for biggest victory margins in men's T20Is



Nigeria 271 for 4 (Salau 112, Okpe 65*, Runsewe 50, Dimitri 1-45) beat Ivory Coast 7 (Useni 3-0, Danladi 3-2, Aho 2-0) by 264 runs

Ivory Coast have entered the record books for the lowest total in a men's T20I, rolling over for just 7 in a 264-run defeat to Nigeria in an ICC Men's T20 World Cup Sub-Regional Africa Qualifier Group C game on Sunday in Lagos.

Batting first after winning the toss, Nigeria rode on Player-of-the-Match Selim Salau's 53-ball 112 (retired out) and half-centuries from Sulaimon Runsewe (50 in 29) and Isaac Okpe (65* in 23) to put up 271 for 4. It was carnage after that. Left-arm spinner Isaac Danladi and left-arm quick Prosper Useni picked up three wickets each, right-arm quick Peter Aho got two, and Sylvester Okpe got one, with one batter run out, as Ivory Coast were dismissed in 7.3 overs. Opener Ouattara Mohamed was the top-scorer with 4 from six balls. The batters' scores read: 4, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0* and 0.

This was the first instance of a single-digit team total in a men's T20I, and beat the earlier lowest total in the format, 10 all out, which has been recorded twice: Mongolia vs Singapore in September this year and Isle of Man vs Spain last year.

The 264-run win also made it to No. 3 in the list for largest victory margins in men's T20Is. The leader there is the 290 runs Zimbabwe beat Gambia by last month, followed by Nepal's 273-run win over Mongolia at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September 2023.

This was Ivory Coast's second loss in as many games - they had been bowled out for 21 to lose by 168 runs to Sierra Leone in their first match.