Meghalaya seam bowler Akash Kumar Choudhary broke the world record for the fastest half-century in first-class cricket during a Ranji Trophy match against Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday (November 9).
Meghalaya quick Akash Kumar Choudhary smashes 11-ball 50
In a Ranji Trophy Plate Division match against Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya were in the ascendancy after the first day which they finished on 386-2. A mini-collapse saw them slip to 459-5 on the second day but a 117-run sixth-wicket partnership brought them back on track.
At the fall of the sixth wicket, right-arm quick Akash Kumar Choudhary walked out to bat, coming on the back of a career-best 60 not out in the last match against Bihar. Perhaps no one would have expected what followed next.
Akash hit eight sixes, six of those coming in one over of Limar Dabi and blasted his way to an 11-ball half-century, the fastest-ever in the history of first-class cricket.
He then surprisingly played three dot balls to finish unbeaten on 50 off 14 balls as Meghalaya declared on 628-6.
Match 76, Arunachal Pradesh vs Meghalaya
vs
- Ball by ball Over
Fastest first-class half-centuries
Akash broke the record of Wayne White, who hit a 12-ball half-century for Leicestershire against Essex in 2012. Akash also broke the Indian record of Bandeep Singh, a Jammu & Kashmir batter who had smashed a 15-ball fifty against Tripura in the 2015/16 season.
Akash also became just the third cricketer to hit six sixes in an over in first-class cricket history after Garry Sobers and Ravi Shastri, and the first ever to hit more than six consecutive sixes (eight).
| Balls | Player | Match | Venue | Season |
| 11 | Akash Kumar Choudhary | Meghalaya vs Arunachal Pradesh | Surat | 2025/26 |
| 12 | Wayne White | Leicestershire v Essex | Leicester | 2012 |
| 13 | Michael van Vuuren | Eastern Province B v Griqualand West | Cradock | 1984/85 |
| 14 | Ned Eckersley | Leicestershire v Essex | Leicester | 2012 |
| 15 | Khalid Mahmood | Gujranwala v Sargodha | Gujranwala | 1999/00 |
| 15 | Bandeep Singh | Jammu and Kashmir v Tripura | Agartala | 2015/16 |
| 16 | Tom Moody | Warwickshire v Glamorgan | Swansea | 1990 |
| 16 | Gary Yates | Lancashire v Glamorgan | Manchester | 1993 |
| 16 | Glen Chapple | Lancashire v Glamorgan | Manchester | 1993 |
| 16 | Mark Pettini | Essex v Leicestershire | Leicester | 2006 |
| 16 | Sanjaya Gangodawila | Bloomfield CAC v Ragama CC | Colombo (Bloomfield) | 2010/11 |
| 16 | Pankaj Jaswal | Himachal Pradesh v Goa | Dharamshala | 2017/18 |
Image credit: Meghalaya Cricket Association
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