Multan are in sixth place in the league table and are currently playing their seventh fixture against Rawalpindi. They have yet to register a win in this year’s edition, having drawn five of their games and lost one. Their previous match against Lahore was one of their draws, but it did seal the team’s place in the history books.

Having been put into bat first by Lahore, Multan racked up an enormous 718-8 declared. Opening batters Zain Abbas and Haseebullah Khan put on an opening stand of 204, both scoring centuries before Abbas was out for 118. Khan was then out shortly after for 101, with No.3 Imran Rafiq out for the lowest score of the innings – 14.

Nos. 4 and 5, Sharoon Siraj and Mohammad Basit Ali, then also both scored centuries (114 and 105 respectively), before Nos 7 and 8, Saim Ayyaz and Ali Usman, chipped in with the final two hundreds.

The collective effort took Multan to the end of day two in the four-day fixture, and, after 178 overs of batting, they declared.

Those six centuries put Multan equal with the only other team to manage that many three figure scores in a single innings during a first class game, Holkar. Back in 1946, Holkar declared on 912-8 against Mysore in the Ranji Trophy, with Kamal Bhandarkar, Chandra Sarwate, Madhavsinh Jagdale, CK Nayudu, Bhausaheb Nimbalkar and Pratap Singh all scoring centuries. Mysore were then bowled out for 190, and then 509 when asked to follow on.

For Multan, however, their opposition did not fold as easily, and Lahore set about compiling their own mountain of runs. Lahore captain and opener, Imran Butt, put on the biggest score of the match, hitting 255 off 401 balls, spending a whopping 579 minutes at the crease. His opening partner, Hashim Ibraheem, also scored a century – out for 120. With half-centuries from Hammad Butt and Qasim Akram, Lahore ended the match on 578-6.

Spare a thought for Lahore’s No.4 Usman Salahuddin, though, who was out for a duck after spending two days in the field and watching his two openers score a 200-run partnership.