Neil Broom joins elite record club with ton after 8 years

New Zealand all-rounder Neil Broom entered the record books and joined an elite company when he scored his maiden ODI ton. His effort came against Bangladesh in the second ODI at the Saxton Oval. New Zealand were in for a brief scare when they were placed at 107/5 at one stage. However, it was Broom’s swashbuckling knock of 109 off 107 balls that lifted them to a decent 251 in 50 overs. Later, the Kiwi bowlers did the rest by bowling out Bangladesh for a mere 184 and thereby won by 67 runs.

Interestingly, Neil Broom scored his first ever century after 8 years since making his Test debut. To be precise with numbers, the hundred came after 7 years and 354 days since his ODI debut that was against West Indies back in 2009. The longest gap between ODI debut and maiden ODI ton by a New Zealand batsman is held by former batsman John Wright. The Kiwi cricketer, who was more successful as the Indian coach later in his career, had taken 9 years and 244 days to score his maiden ODI century.

His debut had come back in 1978 against England and his first century came against the same side in March 1988. Neil Broom and his feat after an- 8-year gap is the second highest by the kiwi player. The highest on the list is former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar. The legendary Indian cricketer who scored 34 Test hundreds has only one ODI ton to his name. He made his debut way back in 1974 at Leeds against England.

He then took a total of 13 years and 110 days before he got to his first ODI century. His maiden and only ODI ton came against New Zealand at Nagpur during the 1987 World Cup. He had struck a brisk 88-ball 103 that was studded with 10 fours and 3 sixes. His efforts had seen India win the match by 9 wickets.