The woman who kept scoreboard during Pranav Dhanawade's 1,009*

Mumbai: “Pranav Dhanawade was crossing the boundary rope with ease irrespective of the ground size. But he faced 327 deliveries for his unbeaten 1009 and not 323 as reported by few,” said Sharmila Thakur, who performed the duty of a scorer during the 15-year-old’s record-breaking innings.

Though the four-ball margin isn’t a crucial difference in the mammoth knock, the KC Gandhi High School lad’s strike-rate does take a whip from 312.38 to 308.56

Pranav — who etched his name in the history books in the Bhandari Cup inter-school tournament organised by Mumbai Cricket Association — became the first cricketer to touch the four-figure mark.

However, Thakur had the busiest day at work.

“It was tiresome but enjoyable. I could neither miss a ball nor the umpire’s signal. I have covered more than fifty games in last two years but by far this is the most memorable match that I have been a part of,” she described her experience.

On his way, Pranav bettered Prithvi Shaw’s record of scoring 546 runs and also overtook AEJ Collins’ 116-year-old record of scoring highest individual runs (628 runs) in an innings.

Dombivli-based Thakur, who enjoys documenting scores for a living, witnessed the history unfold from close quarters. (Photo: Facebook)

“Sunday (Day One), when he scored 652 runs was a stress-free day with hardly any presence from media. But on second day, media personnels and politicians turned up in huge numbers, continuously inquiring about Pranav’s score. Then, managing work was a balancing act,” she added.

Thakur’s son is also a cricketer and the reason why she chose this career. She also acknowledged the support she continues to receive from her husband.

She discussed the morale of Arya Gurukul School team (with a handful of Under-12 cricketers) during the whiplash.

“While they were flayed by Pranav’s runathon, the players never dropped their shoulders. They showed tremendous sportsman spirit,” she said.

Hat-trick tale:

Prithi Kamath, Thakur’s colleague, did not cover the game as a scorer but her son Aayush took a hat-trick.

The seamer, who had a back injury after bowling four overs (4-3-4-1) in the first innings, scalped eight wickets to wrap up Arya Gurukul School’s second innings for 52.