South African student smashes 490 not out

A South African student, has set what is believed to be a cricket record by smashing 490 not out in a limited-overs club match.

Shane Dadswell, a second-year business psychology student at Potchefstroom University, slammed 57 sixes and 27 fours in a 151-ball innings on his 20th birthday.

He was playing for the university team against Potchefstroom Town in a 50-over league match at the Witrand ground, which has staged first-class matches.

The highest previous record score in a limited-overs match is believed to be 486 by S. Sanruth Sriram in an Indian under-16 school match in 2014.

'Minor' cricket is regarded as matches played below first-class, List A or international level.

Dadswell, who attended King Edward VII School in Johannesburg, which produced players like former South African captain Graeme Smith and current star Quinton de Kock, has played provincial cricket at age-group level.

He hit 126 off 38 balls in a club match a week earlier and could take a step up to senior provincial level as he has trained with the first-class North West team.

"You dream about a double hundred, so to get 400-odd is a really special moment. It's phenomenal, the best day of my life," he said.

The record is well short of the 1009 not out scored by Pranav Dhanawade in a school match in Mumbai, India, in 2016, but Dhanawade was not playing in a limited-overs game.

Dadswell, whose idol is South African-born former England batsman Kevin Pietersen, says he hopes to make the leap to professional cricket.

"It would be amazing to play cricket for a living," he said.

"So that's the direction I'm looking in for now.

"I don't really think I would have had an opportunity up until next year, but hopefully this innings will change that."