When Chris Old moved from 50-100 runs in 9 minutes

Yorkshire toured Birmingham to face the hosts Warwickshire in the 1977 County Championship at the Edgbaston. Both the teams lost their previous round matches due to the second inning collapses. This match had interesting rules as the first inning of both teams was restricted to 100 overs and the maximum overs a team can bat in the whole game was limited to 200 overs. Yorkshire elected to bat first after more than half of first day’s play was washed out due to wet outfield.

A bold declaration!

Captain Geoff Boycott (104) and Jim Love (129) scored centuries to help the visitors finish their 100 overs on 353/5. Warwickshire, in reply, declared their innings at 204/3 after playing out 68.2 overs on the 3rd day morning. They fancied their chances at winning the game by bundling out the visitors cheaply. The plan seemed to be working as Yorkshire were reduced to 40/3 at one stage.

But the game went out of the home team’s hands when the Yorks promoted the aggressive batsman Chris Old to No.5. The England International occupied the strike for a longer part and kept the scoreboard ticking. He struck eight fours and a maximum on his way to a 51-ball 50 that came in only 28 minutes. The hosts completed their overs quite quickly as their over-rate was more than 20 overs per hour.

50 runs in 9 minutes!

Chris Old turned more destructive after his fifty as he struck nine boundaries including five sixes in 21 balls that took him from 50 to 100. Old’s second fifty came in only nine minutes as he completed his hundred in only 72 balls and 37 minutes. He was eventually dismissed after scoring 107 and Yorkshire declared their innings at 188/4 in 43 overs. The outside chance of a win for Warwickshire had evaporated long ago.

The hosts got a target of 338 to chase to which they responded scoring 74/2 in 21 overs before the match ended in a draw. Opener Geoff Humpage scored an unbeaten 52 in Warwickshire’s second innings as the formality before the draw. Chris Old’s century remained as the fastest of the season which earned him the Walter Lawrence Trophy. His century in 37 minutes still remains in the top ten fastest first-class hundreds in terms of minutes.