Cheteshwar Pujara’s unblemished conversion rate for Sussex in the County Championship was finally broken today (May 12) as he was dismissed between 50 and 100 for the first time.
The India batter was out for 77, caught behind off the bowling of Leicestershire’s Tom Scriven, bringing an end his run of eight centuries without a fifty for the South Coast outfit. His dismissal left Sussex 189-3, soon becoming 198-4 after Steve Smith’s brief spell at the crease came to an end.
Pujara’s knock at Grace Road is his first half-century in the County Championship since his spell at Nottinghamshire in 2017. He made 67 against Gloucestershire on that occasion. In the following season, his second at Yorkshire after previously representing the side in 2015, he once more did not register a single fifty.
In 2014, Pujara also represented Derbyshire and scored one half-century in that season before his move to Yorkshire.
He arrived at Sussex in 2022, he has torn up the Division Two batting run-scorer charts ever since. Last year, he scored 1,094 runs including five centuries – more than any other batter in the division – in just eight matches. His highest score came in a home draw against Middlesex, where he scored 231 off 403 balls as his side went on to post 523. He finished the season with a ludicrous average of 109.40
This year, he has carried on from exactly where he left off. Now captain of the red-ball side, Pujara has scored three centuries in seven innings as Sussex remain unbeaten so far in the league. He averages 77.85 after his dismissal against Leicestershire.
Across both his seasons at Sussex, Pujara is still averaging 96.41 despite his now imperfect conversion rate. India’s resident number three sits 160 runs clear of Rishi Patel at the top the 2022 Division Two scoring charts, while being 105 runs clear of Division One’s highest scoring batsman, Josh Bohannon.
