The day when Brian Lara scored 501*

On 6 June 1994, BRIAN LARA became the first and the only player to score 500 runs in a First Class Game. He was unbeaten on 111* overnight and smashed 390 runs in a day (6th June 1994) and scored 501* for Warwickshire vs Durham at Birmingham. His 501 runs came in 427 balls including 62 fours and 10 sixes in the second innings of the match. Durham declared their first innings on 556/8 in 156.5 overs and in reply Warwickshire scored 810/4 in just 135.5 overs which is a Run Rate of 5.96.  The match ended in a Draw!

Brian Lara after scoring 501 runs

Broke a 35 year old Record of 499 by Hanif Mohammad

Brian Lara overcame Hanif Mohammad' record of 499 runs in a FC match in his 501*. Hanif Mohammad
who played Test Cricket for Pakistan, scored 499 runs for Karachi vs Bhawalpur at Karachi on 11 January 1959. Unfortunately he was run out on 499 while trying to get to 500 runs. He himself overcame a record which was set 29 years ago then by Sir Don Bradman who scored 452* in 1930.

Hanif Mohammad scored 499 runs in a First Class match

Brian Lara broke this 35 year old long standing record and registered the first 500 runs in a First Class match. Its been 19 years long and still no one has overwritten him. And the record is still said to stay for many more years. Brian Lara is also the only batsman to score 400 runs in a Test Innings. He overcame 380 runs of Matthew Hayden (Aus) vs Zimbabwe in October 2003. It took only 6 months for Brian Lara to clinch his record for highest individual score in tests. He broke a long standing record of 365* runs by Sir Garry Sobers (WI) vs Pakistan in 1958. Brian Lara overcame this after 36 years it was scored.

Brian Lara has his names in both lists of highest scores - Highest Individual Score in Tests and Highest Individual Score in First Class Cricket. He is the only player to score 500 runs and 400 runs in First Class Cricket and Test Cricket respectively.

Stats Section  

Highest Individual Scores in First Class Cricket

Runs	Minutes	Batsman	Team	Opposition	Venue	Date
501	427	Brian Lara	Warwickshire	Durham	Birmingham	2 Jun 1994
499	635	Hanif Mohammad	Karachi	Bahawalpur	Karachi	8 Jan 1959
452*	415	Don Bradman	New South Wales	Queensland	SCG	3 Jan 1930
443*	494	Bhausaheb Nimbalkar	Maharashtra	Kathiawar	Pune	16 Dec 1948
437	621	Bill Ponsford	Victoria	Queensland	MCG	16 Dec 1927
429	477	Bill Ponsford	Victoria	Tasmania	MCG	2 Feb 1923
428	584	Aftab Baloch	Sind	Baluchistan	Karachi	18 Feb 1974
424	470	Archie MacLaren	Lancashire	Somerset	Taunton	15 Jul 1895
405*	555	Graeme Hick	Worcestershire	Somerset	Taunton	6 May 1988
400*	778	Brian Lara	West Indies	England	St John’s	10 Apr 2004

Note: In earlier days, only minutes were recorded and not balls. In case of Brian Lara's innings its 427 balls. 

Bhausaheb Nimbalkar is the only Indian to score 400 runs in a FC innings. 

Brian Lara and Bill Ponsford are the only players to score 2 400s in First Class Cricket.

Archie MacLaren is the first batsman to score 400 runs in a FC innings.

Melbourne, Taunton and Karachi are the venues where 2 quadruple centuries were scored. 

Somerset is the only team against which 2 batsmen scored 400+.