Nottinghamshire batsmen break record partnership of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid
During a Royal London One-Day Cup fixture at Trent Bridge, Nottinghamshire delighted their home fans by smashing several records en route to posting the second highest List-A score in history.
The opening duo of discarded England limited-overs specialist Michael Lumb and experienced domestic batsman Riki Wessels pulverized the Northamptonshire bowlers to all parts of the stadium with a massive partnership which laid the foundation for a daunting total – 445 for the loss of eight wickets from 50 overs.
Their 342-run stand was the highest partnership seen in all 50-over matches on English soil, eclipsing the 318-run partnership between Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid for India against Sri Lanka at the 1999 ICC World Cup.
However, the opening combination missed out on a piece of history by falling 25 runs short of the highest first-wicket partnership in all List-A matches which is still held by Morne van Wyk and Cameron Delport (in a South African domestic tournament).
Lumb overtook Paul Johnson’s 167 to record the highest individual score in his club’s history. The left-hander’s 184 was also the most runs scored in an innings against Northamptonshire, beating Ian Botham’s 175 for Somerset.
When Riki (son of veteran South African/Australian batsman Kepler Wessels) departed after a brutal 97-ball 146 in the 40th over, Nottinghamshire were already at 342. With Lumb looking to shift gears, he was castled by Ben Sanderson to bring the curtains down on a brilliant knock which came off 150 deliveries.
Despite the fall of quick wickets at the other end, skipper and Australian all-rounder Dan Christian smashed a 14-ball 31 to keep the momentum going. In the last few overs, out of favour England all-rounder Samit Patel and former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor provided the finishing touches with some hefty blows.
Admittedly, the pitch assisted all types of batsmen and the bowling attack was inexperienced apart from erstwhile South African seamer Rory Kleinveldt. But, it took an enormous effort to post such an imposing score which was second only to Surrey’s humongous 496/4 against Gloucestershire in 2007.
Northamptonshire came perilously close to challenging the stiff total with the help of a 63-ball 128 from Kleinveldt. However, Harry Gurney’s canny variations helped dismiss them for 425. In the end, 870 runs came from the contest which was just two short of the all-time record registered in the famous Johannesburg ODI between South Africa and Australia.
Let us now take a look at the top five List-A totals of all-time.
| Score | Team | Opposition | Run-Rate | Year | Venue |
| Surrey | 496/4 | Gloucestershire | 9.92 | 2007 | The Oval |
| Nottinghamshire | 445/8 | Northamptonshire | 8.90 | 2016 | Trent Bridge |
| Sri Lanka | 443/9 | Netherlands | 8.86 | 2006 | Amstelveen |
| South Africa | 439/2 | West Indies | 8.78 | 2015 | Johannesburg |
| South Africa | 438/9 | Australia | 8.78 | 2006 | Johannesburg |
That's it. Notts post 445-8, the 2nd highest list A score in history. Here are some of the records... #NottsvNhants pic.twitter.com/M8mcljfJCL
— Nottinghamshire CCC (@TrentBridge) June 6, 2016