Century in 9 hours 366 balls: New Zealand batsman fails to score the slowest first-class century in 7 minutes in a marathon knock. Cricket News

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New Zealand batsman Jeet Rawal missed out on the world record for the slowest first-class century by seven minutes, despite being at the crease for more than nine hours with his brilliant knock.

Batting in New Zealand’s Plunkett Shield against the Central Stags, the Northern Districts opener’s shock haul saw his side level after a first-innings lead of 187 runs. After falling by just two runs in the first essay, the left-hander Rawal returned to parity by hitting a marathon.

Rawal opened his innings on the second day of the tournament on Sunday, entering the stumps for four off 45 balls and completed his century at the Bay Oval in Mount Mauganui on Tuesday afternoon. Before Rawal (107 runs off 396 balls) made 362 runs in 173 overs in the second innings on the fourth day, his team scored 589 runs out of a total of 707 minutes spent at the crease.

The 36-year-old Rawal completed his half-century in 215 balls and doubled it to a hundred after lunch on the fourth day and scored three points in 366 balls in the 551st minute at the crease. The industrious batsman missed the mark by just seven minutes for the longest-lasting knock in the record books, Pakistan batsman Mudassar Najar’s 557-minute Test century against England in 1977 still tops the charts for the slowest first-class century. At domestic FC level, only former India batsman Sadagoppan Ramesh’s 556-minute century for Tamil Nadu in 2001 was slower than Rawal’s.

Rawal has scored more than 100 runs in 24 Tests from 2016 to 2020. His latest century was the 22nd of his first-class career, which saw him score more than 9700 runs.

Slowest First Class Century:

557 mins – Mudassar Nazar (Pakistan v England), 1977
556 mins – Sadagoppan Ramesh (Tamil Nadu vs Kerala), 2001
551 mins – Win Rawal (North District vs Central District), 2024
550 mins – Prashant Mohapatra (Orissa vs Bengal), 1995

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