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Daniel Hughes makes Aussie cricket history in 'freak' 13-year first

The 34-year-old has never played a game for Australia, but could be in line for national duty soon.

Daniel Hughes (pictured) raises his bad in celebration after scoring a century.
Daniel Hughes (pictured) is knocking on the door for national selection after yet another century in the Marsh Cup. (Getty Images)

Birthday boy Daniel Hughes keeps knocking at the door for national selection after he hit another century as NSW demolished Tasmania's Cup final hopes with a 102-run win at North Sydney Oval. Hughes, who turned 34 on Thursday, plundered a brilliant 126 off 130 balls to help NSW to a score of 291 all out after winning the toss.

Tasmania were seeking a win to grab second spot on the ladder couldn't muster a challenge as they were dismissed for 189 off 40 overs. NSW were imperious and Hughes once again led the charge.

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Incredibly, Hughes joins an elite group of players with his latest century. The 34-year-old surpassed Usman Khawaja to be the fastest player to score 2,000 runs at domestic level in 37 innings.

He also moves past players such as Matthew Hayden and Steve Waugh on that illustrious list. His four centuries in the Marsh Cup season equals the record set by Phil Jaques in 2002/03 and Brad Hodge in 2009/10.

Hughes also holds the second highest average (60.74) in Australian one-day domestic cricket, which sits only behind Michael Bevan (61.18). The batter also leads the run-tally this season with 526 from six innings. He is also seeking 158 runs to pass Jaques' 17-year record to become the man with the most runs in a single season.

New South Wales rose to fourth with the bonus point win. Hughes has been in prominent form in the Sheffield Shield as well after he scored 178 and 63 not out between the two teams at the SCG earlier in the week.

Daniel Hughes (pictured) hits a shot during the Marsh One Day Cup.
Daniel Hughes (pictured) is the leading run scorer in the Marsh One Day Cup. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

And he followed up his long-format form with an explosive innings as he struck 15 fours and three sixes. He was the mainstay of the NSW innings with no other player scoring more than 36 as NSW were dismissed in the final over.

The cricket world has rightfully gone wild for Hughes, which has seen him receive plenty of attention for a national call-up in the near future. National selector George Bailey was in attendance at North Sydney Oval for the outstanding innings.

Daniel Hughes moves clear as Marsh Cup scorer

Hughes sits clear at the top of the list for NSW having scored his 10th domestic-one day century. David Warner, Steve Waugh, Nic Maddison, Phil Jacques and Brad Haddin sit on five each. Hughes also boosted his competition-leading season run tally to 526 from six innings - an average of 87 - with four centuries.

He was part of partnerships of 66 with Oliver Davies (36 off 41), 75 with Daniel Sams (33 off 45) and 65 with Ben Dwarshuis (34 off 25). The last two stands helped NSW recover from 5-140 and 7-216.

It was also a fruitful day for the competition's leading wicket-taker, with Tom Rogers (4-62 off 10 overs) moving eight clear of his closest rivals and swelling his season swag to 19. Fellow Tasmania pacemen Nathan Ellis (4-59 off 10) and Jackson Bird (1-43 off 10) also bowled well.

Tasmania suffered a big blow off the second ball of their chase with Australia white ball representative Ben McDermott caught behind down the legside for a duck off Sean Abbott (2-39 off 8).

Hughes is yet to play for Australia in any format. He was selected in the Australia A squad for the South African tour in 2017, but the matches were cancelled due to a pay dispute.

with AAP

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