Double centuries in ODIs were considered almost a thing of future till Sachin Tendulkar scored one against a potent South African attack almost 12 years ago. Since then, we have witnessed seven double tons in the 50-over format including three by Rohit Sharma. While double centuries have become a slightly common occurrence in domestic 50-over cricket, seeing 237 runs scored by a batter from just 72 balls on a scorecard will still make cricket fans’ jaw drop. A Melbourne batter achieved the rare feat in the Victoria Premier Cricket’s second grade competition. The Camberwell Magpies’ opener Chris Thewlis made Kingston Hawthorn fielders spectators mere spectators with his fierce hitting.
Thewlis hit as many as 24 sixes and 20 fours in his rampant 237-run knock. He scored 204 of his runs from just boundaries. On two separate occasions, he hit a hat-trick of sixes. The impact of the hard-hitting batter was such that he made Hawthorn bowlers shout in frustration. In a video doing rounds on Twitter, a bowler can be heard shouting “No! Every week, every week”.
It is also worth noting that Thewlis scored 237 runs in the 23rd over of his team’s innings. In the video, the scorecard shows the team’s total 297/1 when the right-handed batter had already scored 236 runs. He played just 16 dot deliveries in his innings including the delivery he lost his wicket on. His 237 helped Magpies post a total of 441/4. In reply, the opposition could manage to score only 203/8 as they crumbled beneath the scoreboard pressure. The double century helped Magpies win the match by 238 runs, just one more than what Thewlis had scored.
While 237 is a rare achievement, this was not the first time a batter had scored a double century in Victoria Premier Cricket. A total of 30 double centuries have been scored in the tournament’s history. Thewlis is fifth on the list which is led by Jeremy Brown who scored an unbeaten 270 in 2008-09 season whereas the first-ever was hit by David Evans in 1988-89 season.
