Former England opener Dom Sibley pipped breakout star Saif Zaib to become the first player to reach 1,000 runs in the 2025 County Championship.
Batting first in the Division One match at Scarborough, Yorkshire declared their innings after putting a mammoth 517-6, spearheaded by Matthew Revis’ 110 not out off 134 balls.
In Surrey’s response, captain Rory Burns opened with Dom Sibley, who entered the match just 26 runs short of becoming the first player to reach 1,000 runs this season in either division. Sibley reached the milestone with an on-driven four off Will Sutherland in the 18th over, with Surrey at 64-0. The pair then registered individual fifties in a century stand. Sibley fell for 52 off 91 with Surrey at 134-1.
Sibley, who played the last of his 22 Tests for England in 2021, is currently averaging 73.42 this season, including three centuries and six fifties.
Also read: 'I was hoping for it to rain' - Dom Sibley on 'relief' of being dropped from England's Test side
This marks his second 1,000-plus run County Championship season, having previously topped the 2019 charts with 1,324 runs at 69.68 – a performance that earned him his Test debut in November that year.
Match 86, Yorkshire vs Surrey
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Dom Sibley beats Zaib in the 1,000 County Championship runs race
Hot on Sibley’s heels in the race to 1,000 runs was Northamptonshire’s all-rounder Saif Zaib, who needed 81 more runs in their Division Two match against Middlesex at Merchant Taylors' School Ground. In reply to Middlesex’s 625-8 declared, Northants stumbled to 138-5, but Zaib steadied the innings with a 101-ball fifty.
When Sibley reached the milestone, Zaib was just three runs short. He soon became the second player this season and the first Northants player since Ben Duckett in 2016 to achieve the feat.
Zaib – who entered the tournament with a first-class average of 26 in 60 matches – now averages over 70 this season, including five centuries and four fifties. Kent’s Ben Compton was also in the race, but he narrowly missed out, falling 23 runs short after scores of 17 and 48 against Glamorgan.
