Brian Lara wrote history on this day in 1994 by scoring 501 runs in first-class cricket
The year 1994 will always be a special one for Brian Lara. The amazing run of the former West Indies captain began with a triple century against England in April that broke all previous records. In the first innings, Lara had 375 runs against England. But the hitter, who is of Trinidadian descent, wasn’t ready to stop there, and two months later he delivered another historic hit. Lara had accomplished a fantastic achievement on this particular day by recording the highest first-class score in cricket history. Lara outperformed Hanif Mohammad, a former Pakistani cricketer, who had 499.
Lara had amassed 501 runs (not out) in a County Championship game while representing Warwickshire. It’s time to think back on the legendary innings as Lara enjoys his first-class knock that broke all previous records.
The decision to bat first by Durham captain Phil Bainbridge, who won the toss, paid off as they declared after amassing a massive score of 556/8 in 158.5 overs. Durham’s John Morris recorded a double hundred with 204 runs from 287 balls batted in. He ended up becoming the game’s leading scorer for his team.
Warwickshire’s innings got off to a bad start as they lost their first wicket after scoring just eight runs. At third base, Lara stepped up to the plate. The southpaw first had a reprieve when Durham wicketkeeper Chris Scott dropped him on 18.
Lara stood at the wicket for 474 minutes and was still unbeaten after having ran 501 runs off 427 balls. Ten sixes and 62 boundaries were part of his innings. In the innings, he struck out at an amazing rate of 117.33.
In addition to scoring a century, Warwickshire wicketkeeper Keith Piper did so while remaining unbeaten on 116 from 151 balls as the Dermot Reeve-led team finally declared their innings at 810/4 after 135.5 overs. The final score of the game was a tie.
The 53-year-old West Indian hitter participated in 261 matches in first-class cricket overall, scoring 22156 runs at an average of 51.88. In first-class cricket, Lara has 65 hundreds and 88 half centuries to his credit.
