(Reuters) – When Sussex’s Ollie Robinson came on to bowl against Leicestershire’s number eight batter Louis Kimber on Wednesday, little did the England bowler know he would go down in the record books for conceding 43 runs in an over.
After Sussex had declared their second innings on 296-6 to post a target of 464, Leicestershire were on the ropes at 144-6 when Kimber walked in and cut loose, dealing in boundaries to bring up his fifty in no time.
Kimber was on 72 when Robinson bowled the 59th over where the batter smashed two sixes and six boundaries while Robinson also overstepped three times. No balls in County Cricket carry a two-run penalty, resulting in a very expensive nine-ball over.
He brought up his century with a boundary and although Robinson tried to change the angle by coming around the wicket, Kimber could not be stopped as he broke the record for the most runs off an over in the County Championship’s 134-year history.
Shoaib Bashir had similarly conceded 38 runs in an over in a county match between Surrey and Worcestershire just two days earlier and he will probably thank his England team mate for erasing his name from the record books.
Kimber, who was not even at the crease at the start of the day’s play, went into lunch unbeaten on 191 off just 92 deliveries with Leicestershire needing 89 runs to win.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra)
