By D. W. G. Kalani Tharanga, JadeTimes News
In a historic moment for the County Championship, Sussex fast bowler Ollie Robinson conceded the most expensive over in the tournament's history, giving away 43 runs to Leicestershire's Louis Kimber. This record breaking over occurred on the fourth and final day of their Division Two match, highlighting an extraordinary display of batting prowess by Kimber.
The Historic Over
During this unforgettable over, Kimber unleashed a flurry of aggressive shots, scoring two sixes, six fours three of which came off no balls and a single. The sequence of events began with Kimber pulling Robinson to backward square leg for six. The second ball, a no ball, was dispatched to the same region for four more runs. Kimber continued his assault by hitting a bouncer to third man for another boundary, followed by a massive six over the backward square leg. A series of fours ensued, with the sixth ball being a cut to the off side boundary and another no ball bringing up Kimber’s century in spectacular fashion. The over concluded with a stylish drive through cover off another no ball and a final single to mid on, cementing the over as the most expensive in English first class cricket.
Implications and Context
This remarkable over eclipsed the previous record of 38 runs, set by Lancashire's Andrew Flintoff against Surrey’s Alex Tudor in 1998 and matched earlier in the week by Surrey’s Dan Lawrence off Shoaib Bashir. Kimber's explosive performance significantly boosted his innings, reaching 191 runs off 92 balls by lunch, as part of an unbroken 200 run eighth wicket partnership with Ben Cox. Despite Leicestershire’s morning session blitz of 236 runs from 29 overs, they still needed 89 runs for victory with three wickets remaining when play paused.
Robinson, who aims to play a crucial role for England’s Test side this summer, particularly following Jimmy Anderson’s retirement, faced a challenging moment in his career with this over. Nonetheless, Kimber's achievement stands as a testament to his exceptional batting skills and a noteworthy chapter in the annals of County Championship history.