New Delhi:
There have been many instances in world cricket where a batsmen was denied a century. However, how many instances can one remember that a scoreboard error resulted in a player not realising he had scored a ton? This true story happened in the Vitality Blast, England's local Twenty20 tournament modelled on the IPL. During the match between Gloucestershire and Kent at Canterbury on Thursday, Australia cricketer Michael Klinger had scored a century but he had not realised it mainly because there was an error in the main scoreboard at St Lawrence Ground.
Klinger, the Gloucestershire captain had set a good platform with opening partner Miles Hammond as the duo shared 70 for the opening wicket. Klinger continued to score aggressively and he neared a century. On the final ball of the innings, Klinger lofted a full ball to wide long off and Gloucestershire ended on 180/3 in 20 overs. However, the right-handed batsman did not realise that he had scored a century and he walked off the pavilion amidst loud cheers. Afterwards, Klinger said he did not realise he had scored a century and he outlined the reason.
"The main scoreboard had me on 91. So I was just trying to get a four or a six off the last ball, and then everyone started cheering. It was a nice surprise at the end," Klinger told Sky Sports. Despite aggressive knocks from Sam Billings and Faf du Plessis, Kent ended five runs short and Gloucestershire progressed to the quarterfinals of the Vitality Blast.
What a player. What an innings.@maxyklinger hits his 8th T20 💯 and gets there in style#Blast19 https://t.co/bZJTvrk636 pic.twitter.com/TeJslK1FrF
— Vitality Blast (@VitalityBlast) August 29, 2019
During the course of his knock, Klinger achieved a new Twenty20 record. The unbeaten knock of 102, which included nine fours and four sixes, was his eighth century in this format, putting him a clear second on the list of most centuries by a batsmen. Chris Gayle of West Indies leads the table with 21 but Klinger's knock put him past star players like Aaron Finch, David Warner, Luke Wright and Brendon McCullum, who all have seven centuries. When it comes to Indian players, Rohit Sharma leads the list with six centuries while Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli is second with five centuries followed by Suresh Raina with four.
