New Zealand No. 11 batsman smashes 150 in representative cricket

Hamilton No.11 batsman Freddy Walker entered the record books by smashing an unbeaten 150 in an unbelievable final wicket stand in representative cricket. It was an exceptional effort from the Kiwis tailender whose previous highest score was 25. Freddy Walker and Anish Desai stitched together a mammoth 220 runs partnership for the final wicket during their Northern District Cricket Association match against the Bay of Plenty at the Galloway Park. The venue is just 5 kilometres away from Seddon Park which is the venue for the final ODI between Australia and New Zealand in the deciding encounter in the Chappell-Hadlee series.

Hamilton was struggling at 189/9 when Walker joined Desai in the middle. The No.11 batsman had scored only 54 in his last 6 innings in the competition over the course of the last three seasons. Coming into bat in a precarious situation, the tail-ender started smashing the opposition bowlers to the nooks and corners of the park. He unleashed a barrage of boundaries during his innings of 150 which included 23 fours and six. His innings came in 125 deliveries.

Desai who played the sheet anchor’s role for the majority of the innings himself struck 20 boundaries during his innings of 165 of 231 deliveries. It is unsure whether this is a record but looking at the magnitude of the partnership in the context of batting positions, it has been an exceptional effort from the New Zealand duo. They eventually declared their innings at the score of 409/9.

The record final wicket partnership in Test cricket is held by Joe Root ad James Anderson against India at Trent Bridge in 2014. It was also the same venue where Ashton Agar scored 98 in his debut match batting at the No.11 position. He also shared 163 runs stand with the late Philip Hughes for the final wicket.

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The 220 partnership though is nowhere close to the all-time first class record held by New South Wales skipper Alan Kippax and No. 11 bat Hal Hooker in the Sheffield Shield match against Victoria way back in 1928.