Yorkshire's Adam Lyth broke the record for the highest British domestic T20 score as he plundered a brilliant 161 in the NatWest Blast against Northamptonshire at Headingley.
Lyth hammered seven sixes and 20 fours in his 73-ball innings to surpass Brendon McCullum's previous best of 158 not out for Birmingham in 2015.
The opener's contribution looked like setting Yorkshire for a world record total but they fell just short, ending on 260 for four, still beating the previous British domestic highest of 254 for three set by Gloucestershire in 2011.
Needing to win to have any chance of progressing to the quarter-finals, Lyth set about the Northamptonshire bowlers early on, racing to his 50 off just 21 balls.
The boundaries continued to take a peppering and the former England opener, in partnership with Tom Kohler-Cadmore and David Willey, brought up his century off his 50th delivery and then put his foot down, taking 24 runs off Ben Sanderson's 17th over.
He went past McCullum's 158 in the 19th over and looked to be guiding Yorkshire to the world record team score until he fell with just two balls remaining, caught by Ben Duckett off the bowling of Azharullah.
The last two overs were something of a damp squib for the hosts - in comparison to the previous 18 at least - as they lost three wickets and could only manage 11 runs, ending up just four short of overtaking Royal Challengers Bangalore's 263 for five in the 2013 Indian Premier League.
Lyth did not get too carried away with his effort, telling Sky Sports: " I'm really happy with that. It's nice to get off to a good start and keep going. Hopefully now the bowlers can do their job and hopefully we can qualify."
Source: PA
