Bangladesh ‘A’ skipper Towhid Hridoy became the first Bangladeshi batter to score 350 runs in first-class cricket.

Six and a half years after helping Bangladesh make history by winning the Under-19 World Cup in Potchefstroom, South Africa, Hridoy returned to the same venue to create another piece of history.

Hridoy, who became only the third Bangladeshi batter to score a triple hundred in first-class cricket and surpassed Tamim Iqbal’s unbeaten 334 and Raqibul Hasan’s unbeaten 313 to register the highest first-class score by a Bangladeshi batter, is also now the first Bangladeshi to score a first-class triple century outside Bangladesh.

Hridoy, whose 350 is the highest first-class score by an overseas batter in South Africa, is only the second batter to score at least 350 in a first-class innings in South Africa, after Stephen Cook’s 390.

Towhid, who resumed on 204 overnight, remained unbeaten on 350 off 481 balls with 27 fours and 10 sixes, to achieve the feat during the fourth and final day of the second four-day match against South Africa ‘A’ at NWC Oval in Potchefstroom on Wednesday.

The match ended in a draw as Bangladesh declared their first innings at 676 for eight to take a 164-run lead while South Africa ‘A’, who had earlier scored 512 in their first innings, reached 18 without loss before the two teams agreed to a draw.

“To be honest this innings gave me a lot of confidence. After picking the Man of the Match trophy I was feeling that someday I will play an innings like this in the national team,” Hridoy said after the match.

Tamim, the former national skipper and current BCB president, was quick to congratulate him on breaking his record.

“Scoring a 350-run innings anywhere, at any level and in any context, is a remarkable achievement. But if that innings comes in South Africa, it has to be described as extraordinary,” Tamim wrote on his Facebook page.

“They say records are meant to be broken. I am very happy that my record has been broken.

“Congratulations to Towhid Hridoy on making history. Becoming the first Bangladeshi batter to reach 350 is not just a personal achievement; it is also a symbol of the progress of cricket in the country,” he added.

South Africa ‘A’ won the two-match four-day series 1-0 despite the draw after securing a massive innings-and-413-run victory in the opening game in Pretoria.

The two teams will now face each other in a three-match one-day series, with the first match scheduled to take place in Bloemfontein on September 6.