ENG vs NZ: Trent Boult surpasses Muttiah Muralitharan to achieve this unique feat

New Zealand pace spearhead Trent Boult has made a new world record in international cricket. Surprisingly, it is not with regards to his bowling which he has specialized in over the years, but with batting, and that too at the number 11 position. It is to be noted that Boult, who was at par with Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan, has now surpassed him to take the top spot in the list of batters with most runs at number 11 in Test matches.

Boult achieved this feat on the fifth and final day of the all-important second Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham as both England and the Kiwis have been involved in a tug-of-war to come out on top. A win for the hosts will be good enough to seal the three-match series while a Black Caps victory would ensure that they live to fight another day.

Trent Boult scored handy runs on Day 5

Meanwhile, when Boult opened his account on the morning of the fifth day’s play, he ended up overhauling Muttiah Muralitharan’s feat of scoring most number of runs as a number 11 batter in Test cricket. Muralitharan (623) has now been pushed to the second spot on this list. The Kiwi pacer ended up scoring 17 runs from 15 deliveries. It was a cameo knock that included three fours at a strike rate of 113.3.

Thus, Boult now tops this list with 640 runs. Apart from Boult and Muralitharan, others in this category include the likes of veteran English pacer James Anderson *(618), former Australian pacer Glenn McGrath (603), and the former West Indies fast bowling great Courtney Walsh (553) respectively.

Coming back to the contest, New Zealand were bundled out for 284 thereby, setting England a target of 299. The hosts began their run chase in style as opener Alex Lees ensured a brisk start for them. Nonetheless, they also suffered a huge setback as Lees’ opener partner Zak Crawley was dismissed for a duck.

Most runs by a player at number 11 in Tests: