New Delhi, Oct 23
New Zealand batter Chad Bowes has gone past Travis Head and Narayan Jagadeesan to smash the fastest double century in men's List A. Playing for Canterbury against Otago in the Ford Trophy on Wednesday, Bowes brought up his double ton in 103 deliveries before eventually falling for 205 off 110 balls.
The previous record for fastest double century in men's List A cricket was jointly held by Head and Jagadeesan, who achieved the feat in 114 balls. "It might sink in over the next day or two, but obviously a great day here at Hagley and a good occasion to do something special. These things happen naturally, organically. You don't plan for it or try to do it, so I'm glad it was my day," said Bowes in a New Zealand Cricket (NZC) video.
While Head reached the landmark for South Australia against Queensland in the 2021/22 Marsh Cup, Jagadeesan did so during his record-breaking 277 for Tamil Nadu against Arunachal Pradesh in the 2022/23 Vijay Hazare Trophy.
But on Wednesday, Bowes made his 100th List A match appearance memorable by hitting 27 fours and seven sixes to propel Canterbury in posting 343/9 at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. He got to his fifty in 26 balls, before reaching his century in 53 deliveries, and taking another 50 balls to get a whirlwind double hundred.
"Probably not (hit the ball) consistently that well, so it was nice to get most of them out of the middle and hit it around the park. It started off really nicely so I just kept going and it was working so I didn't try to rein it in too much and just kept the foot on the gas," added Bowes, who's played six ODIs and 11 T20Is for New Zealand.