Asa Tribe smashed the record books on Thursday with a brilliant 175 off 156 balls, the highest score in the history of Challenge League, leading Jersey to another victory at St. Martin, Jersey in the ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League A.
Tribe came into bat at 3-1, and slumped further with scoreboard reading 15 for the loss of four wickets in the fourth over. The 21-year-old batter remained at the crease despite the others' struggles and managed to score runs freely. His performance single-handedly took Jersey out of their predicament, helping the team post a formidable 261, which proved too much for Papua New Guinea, as they fell 160 runs short.
The young batter played a range of exquisite shots and looked at ease, smashing 19 fours and four sixes. The most astonishing part of his batting came towards the end of the innings with Jersey having 183 runs on the board but had lost nine wickets. The last-wicket partnership saw Tribe cut loose, and along with number 11 batter, George Richardson put up a 78-run stand before Tribe eventually lost his wicket.
Richardson played his role perfectly in the last wicket partnership, surviving eight balls with no runs to his name, but crucially defending his wicket, allowing Tribe to accelerate freely.
Tribe told BBC Radio, "I feel like my batting's in a good spot at the moment," after the knock. The right-hander finds himself in unprecedented form, having scored 122* and 131* for Glamorgan before flying over to complete his third century in one week, truly an extraordinary feat.
The victory saw Jersey cement their top spot in the CWC Challenger League A standings. The side is on target to book their slot at the Qualifier Playoff ahead of the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2027 in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Not getting far too ahead of the situation, Tribe now wants to focus on the next round.
"I think it's really important that we just keep winning, keep taking that momentum forward with our last game, hopefully, and then take that into the third round of this competition," was quoted by BBC Radio.
Jersey meet Qatar next on 31 August in their last fixture of the tournament.
