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New Zealand batter shatters Travis Head’s record for fastest List A double century

New Zealand batter Chad Bowes smashed the record for the fastest double century in List A cricket on Wednesday, previously held by Australian star batter Travis Head.

The 32-year-old batter set the record while playing for Canterbury against Otago during the ongoing Ford Trophy.

He opened the innings for his side after being invited to bat first by Otago captain Matthew Bacon and completed his double century in 103 balls.

The record was previously held jointly by Travis Head and India’s Narayan Jagadeesan, who both completed their double century in 114 balls.

It’s worth noting that Head held the record with a 117-ball double century, which he scored in 2015 while playing for South Australia against Western Australia.

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The Australian improved his record in 2021 against Queensland, which was then equalled by Jagadeesan, who scored a 114 double century during a match between Tamil Nadu and Arunachal Pradesh in 2022.

It’s worth noting that Chad Bowes achieved the historic feat during his 100th List A match. He smashed 27 fours and seven sixes during his marathon knock lifting his team to post 343 for 9. Otago folded for a meagre 103 while chasing the mammoth total.

“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,” Bowes said after his innings.

“These things happen naturally, organically. You don’t plan for it or try to do it, so I’m glad it was my day. 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,” Bowes said.