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Chinmay Sutar hits 400 not out for Mizoram, second-highest score in Ranji history
In only his second first-class match, the Mumbai-bred batter batted through 517 balls against Nagaland in Sovima, adding an unbroken 190 for the last wicket before Mizoram declared on 581 for 9.
Key points
- Chinmay Sutar made 400 not out off 517 balls for Mizoram against Nagaland.
- Only Bhausaheb Nimbalkar's 443 not out in 1948-49 is higher in the Ranji Trophy.
- Sutar and No. 11 Lalrempuia Chhakchhuak added an unbroken 190 for the 10th wicket.
Chinmay Sutar walked off the Nagaland Cricket Stadium in Sovima on Monday with 400 runs to his name and his place in the record books secure. Batting for Mizoram against Nagaland in the Ranji Trophy Plate group, the 400 not out he made off 517 balls is the second-highest score in the competition’s history.
Only Bhausaheb Nimbalkar has gone further. His unbeaten 443 for Maharashtra against Kathiawar in Pune in 1948-49 has been the Ranji record since then. Sutar went past Prithvi Shaw’s 379 on his way and became only the second Indian, after Nimbalkar, to make a quadruple century in first-class cricket.
He hit 46 fours and seven sixes, and reached 400 in the 155th over, having gone to tea on 392. Mizoram declared straight after, on 581 for 9.
A last-wicket stand for the ages
The innings looked as if it might end well short of history. Mizoram, 331 for 5 overnight, slipped to 391 for 9, with Sutar on 231 when last man Lalrempuia Chhakchhuak came out to join him.
The pair stayed together for the rest of the innings and added 190 unbeaten runs. It is the third-highest 10th-wicket stand in Ranji history, 43 short of the record of 233 put on by Ajay Sharma and Maninder Singh for Delhi against Mumbai in 1991-92.
Sutar is now the tenth batter to make 400 or more in a first-class innings, a list that includes Brian Lara, whose 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham in 1994 remains the highest, Hanif Mohammad with 499 for Karachi and Don Bradman.
From Mumbai maidans to Mizoram
The most remarkable part of the story is how new Sutar is to this level. This was only his second first-class match. He made his Ranji debut for Mizoram the previous week against Manipur after getting a no-objection certificate from the Mumbai Cricket Association.
He showed his form straight away, scoring 35 and 99 in that game before being run out one short of a hundred in the second innings. Mizoram, who trailed by 68 on first innings, lost by three wickets.
Sutar came through Mumbai’s local leagues and had played for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. In June he helped MSC Maratha Royals defend their Mumbai T20 League title, scoring back-to-back half-centuries and finishing with 212 runs from six innings.
On Monday he gave Mizoram a total that should put them in control of the match, with Nagaland now needing to bat for a long time to save it.
The match continues on Tuesday.