ABHISHEK Sharma showed his brute power on Sunday night clobbering 233 runs from just 91 deliveries with a strike rate of 256.04 in a senior inter-district one-day match in Punjab. With that staggering strike rate, Sharma created a new record pushing behind compatriot Tamil Nadu’s Narayan Jagadeesan to take top perch. Jagadeesan had scored 277 runs from 141 balls with a strike rate of 196.45 in a Vijay Hazare match against Arunachal Pradesh in November 2022. Opening the innings for Amritsar Men Senior against Tarn Taran Men Senior, Sharma lit up the Gandhi Ground sky in Amritsar as he scored 210 of his 233 runs through boundaries.

 

He smashed 25 sixes and 15 fours during his extraordinary stay in the middle. He finished with a whopping strike rate of 256.04 as Amritsar piled up 533 for eight from their allotted 50 overs. Sharma thus created a record of highest strike rate for a double century in a local one-day match. Sharma’s 25 sixes alone contributed 150 runs, while only 23 of his runs came without the ball reaching or clearing the boundary. Sharma and Abhay Choudhary posted a monumental 305-run opening wicket partnership. They took only 24.4 overs to cross the 300-run mark, scoring at more than 12 runs an over before Abhishek was eventually dismissed. In all, Amritsar slammed 41 sixes and 35 fours during their innings. Their total of 533 was too huge for Tarn Taran, who could score 313 for eight from 50 overs to suffer a 220-run defeat.