Tom Bruce has etched his name into New Zealand cricket history by scoring 345 runs, the third-highest individual score in the country’s first-class cricket. He achieved this remarkable feat while playing for Central Stags against Auckland in the Plunket Shield.
Bruce’s innings of 345 is only surpassed by the legendary Bert Sutcliffe, who holds the top two highest scores in New Zealand first-class cricket. Bruce faced 401 deliveries, hitting 36 boundaries and six sixes during his marathon innings.
Resuming his innings on 212 from the previous day, Bruce reached his triple century off his 379th ball. In reaching 339, he overtook Roger Blunt’s score from 1931-32. Earlier in his innings, he had also surpassed Dean Brownlie’s 334 (2014-15) and Devon Conway’s 327 not out (2019-2020).
Other notable triple-centurions in New Zealand domestic cricket include Michael Papps and Peter Fulton.
Bruce came to the crease when his team was at 29 for 2, and later 75 for 3. He built significant partnerships, adding 292 runs with Dane Cleaver for the fourth wicket and 303 runs with Josh Clarkson for the fifth wicket, both records for Central Stags. He was eventually dismissed for 345, caught sweeping off Louis Delport.
This innings marked Bruce’s 11th first-class century. During the first day of his innings, he also surpassed 6000 first-class runs.
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