Usually, winning by an innings is considered as a comprehensive result in both Test and first-class cricket. But, in what should be the most one-sided thrashing given to any team in the game’s illustrious history, Pakistan Railways trampled over a hapless Dera Ismail Khan side to emerge victorious by a jaw-dropping margin on this very date 52 years ago.
In 1964, history was created during a Pakistani domestic match at the Railways Moghalpura Institute Ground in Lahore. Pakistan Railways’ victory margin of innings and 851 runs remains to this date as the biggest win of all-time in first-class cricket.
Interestingly, the Ayub Trophy was given first-class status for the first time in that season. Hence, Dera Ismail Khan made their first-class debut alongside a host of other teams. However, the occasion turned sour for them after they were subjected to a brutal examination on what has been subsequently described as a normal cricket pitch.
Pakistan Railways won the toss and lost one of their openers for a relatively early score. But, the carnage that was about to follow could not have been anticipated by any one on the field. With only four specialist (relatively speaking) bowling options at their disposal, Dera Ismail Khan were ripped to pieces by a professional batting lineup.
At the end of the opening day, Railways had coasted to 415/2 with Javed Babar and opener Ijaz Hussain reaching three-figures. However, there was one batsman who silently began to get his eye in. Pervez Akhtar remained unbeaten on 63 and would set his sights on something much bigger.
Fast forward to the close of the second day’s play, he had cruised to a triple century and the team total was almost doubled to 825/6. Finally, Railways called it in shortly into the third day but not before they had crossed the 900-mark with Mohammad Sharif adding to the opposition’s woes by becoming the fourth batsmen to reach three-figures in the innings.
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In contrast, four of Dera Ismail Khan’s bowlers gave away in excess of 100 runs with the lowest economy-rate being 4.06. Only Taimur Hassan escaped the same fate by virtue of sending down just a couple of overs.
However, the match would take an even uglier turn for them as their focus shifted to the batting side of things. Their first-innings lasted 15.3 overs and yielded an embarrassing total of 32 runs. Anwar Khan’s name should deserve a special mention at this juncture as he was the only batsman to reach double-figures in the innings.
Upon being asked to follow-on, they somehow managed to fare even worse in their second innings if that was indeed possible. This time, their sojourn lasted just 12.3 overs and produced a tally which was five less than in the first innings. Jamil Ahmed top-scored with 10 as none of the other batsmen reached double-figures.
On the other side of the fence, Railways needed only two bowlers in each innings to seal the deal by an innings and 851 runs. Although their first-innings total of 910 remains only the ninth largest total in first-class history, the victory margin is comfortably the highest thus far. Wisden Almanack would go on to attribute the result to the Pakistan board allowing “teams with no first-class status to compete in first-class tournaments”.
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A group of aspiring cricketers representing a town whose total population was less than a lakh (paltry by subcontinental standards) found themselves etched in the history books for all the wrong reasons. In the aftermath of the colossal loss, Dera Ismail Khan conceded their next two matches in order to avoid further ignominy and only returned to first-class cricket in the 1983-84 Patron’s Trophy. But, they continued to remain win-less over the course of the next three seasons as well.
Brief Scores: Pakistan Railways – 910/6 dec (Pervez Akhtar 337*, Javed Babar 200, Anwar Khan 3/295); Dera Ismail Khan – 32 (Anwar Khan 11*, Afaq Khan 7/14) and 27 (Jamil Ahmed 10, Ahad Khan 9/7)
Six biggest first-class victories of all-time (by innings)
| Margin | Team | Opposition | Venue | Season |
| Innings and 851 runs | Pakistan Railways | Dera Ismail Khan | Lahore | 1964-65 |
| Innings and 666 runs | Victoria | Tasmania | Melbourne | 1922-23 |
| Innings and 656 runs | Victoria | New South Wales | Melbourne | 1926-27 |
| Innings and 605 runs | New South Wales | South Australia | Sydney | 1900-01 |
| Innings and 579 runs (Test match) | England | Australia | The Oval | 1938 |
| Innings and 575 runs | Sind | Baluchistan | Karachi | 1973-74 |
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