Astounding! Perhaps even beyond that. A staggering 15 runs were scored off just one delivery in an extraordinary incident witnessed on Tuesday (31 December) at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
Chittagong Kings, set a daunting target of 203 runs, could not have hoped for a better start to their innings. Facing Khulna, their explosive opening over rewrote the history books with Naeem Islam at the centre of this remarkable feat. The first ball bowled by Khulna’s Oshane Thomas yielded an unprecedented 15 runs—an official world record in recognised cricket.
In a dramatic turn of events, Naeem was initially declared out on the very first delivery. However, the ball was deemed a no-ball, granting him a reprieve. What followed was sheer brilliance: a dot ball was succeeded by a no-ball that Naeem dispatched for a six, bringing the tally to seven runs. Two consecutive wide deliveries added two more, and another no-ball resulted in a boundary, contributing an additional five runs. The cumulative score for that solitary delivery stood at 15.
This feat surpassed the previous world record of 13 runs scored off one ball in competitive cricket. That record was set by India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal in 2024 against Zimbabwe, where a no-ball facilitated his tally, which included a six.
Naeem's incredible performance in Dhaka has now relegated Jaiswal’s achievement to second place. Naeem scored 10 runs directly, while the remaining five came from extras—no-balls and wides.
Across all cricketing formats, the highest recorded number of runs from a single delivery remains 286, achieved in an Australian domestic match. This bizarre record, documented by the Pall Mall Gazette in 1865, occurred when the ball became lodged in a tree, leading to an unprecedented tally of runs.
Tuesday’s spectacle will undoubtedly remain etched in cricketing folklore, a testament to the unpredictability and thrill of the game.
