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Happy Birthday Brian Lara: Here Are His Five Best Innings
The West Indies batting great Brian Lara on Sunday turned 52. Lara is counted among as one of the greatest batsmen in world cricket. He is also Windies’ leading run-getter in the Test. The 52-year-old amassed 11,953 runs in the longest format of the game in 131 Tests with the help of 34 hundred, nine double century, and 48 fifties. Lara's highest score in red-ball cricket is 400, which is also a world record.
nd even today after 14 years of his retirement, cricket fans still enjoy his classic sweep. Lara played several ground-breaking innings in his 17-year-long carrier, on his 53rd birthday, here we take a look back at his five best knocks:
1. Lara scored unbeaten 153 vs Australia in 4th innings
Lara’s unbeaten 153 run knock against Australia in the 4th innings of the third Test match in Bridgetown is considered the best knock of his carrier. Australia posted a mammoth total of 490 for the loss of ten wickets in the first innings. Windies were bowled out for 329 in the second. However, the visitors manage to restrict the host for 146 in the third innings of the match.
West Indies were given 308 runs target in the last innings and were left reeling at 105/5 before Lara took charge of the match. He scored 153 runs off 256 balls with the help of 19 fours and one sixes and guided his side to a one-wicket win over Australia.
2. Brian Lara’s maiden Test hundred, an epic knock of 277
The former West Indies skipper had a knack for scoring big knocks and his maiden Test hundred was a testimony of the same. Lara’s first Test century came in his fifth match only against the mighty Australians at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
Batting first, Australia posted a total of 503 runs for the loss of nine wickets before declaring. Chasing 503, Windies opener fell cheaply and West Indies was left reeling at 31/2. After two early wickets, Lara along with Sir Richie Richardson took charge of their innings and took Windies to 324/3. Lara went on to score 277 runs in that game with the help of 38 fours.
3. Brian Lara score 115 vs South Africa in 2004
The Caribbean batting maestro defied all odd against a formidable South African bowling attack, comprising Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, and Jacques Kallis, to score 115 in Cape Town Test. Batting first, South Africa posted 532 runs for the loss of ten wickets and many believed that Proteas would win the match by bowling out visitors within a day.
However, Lara along with Gayle held West Indies’ fort as they scored 427 before getting bundled out in the first innings. The match ended in a draw.
4. Lara scored 375 vs England in 1994
Brian Lara scripted history at St. John's ground in the year 1994, when he notched up the highest individual score in the longest format of the game. Lara scored 375 runs against England and in the process broke Sir Garfield Sobers' record.
Sobers had scored an unbeaten 365 against Pakistan in 1958 and before Lara's feat, this was the highest individual score in Test. Lara's 375 run knock was laced with 45 boundaries. The match ended in a draw. Lara's record stood for the next ten years before Matthew Hayden surpassed his tally with a 380 run knock against Zimbabwe.
5. Lara became the first cricket to score a quadruple century in Test
Just six months after Hayden surpassed Lara’s highest individual record in Test cricket with a blistering 380, the West Indies legend reclaimed his spot by scoring the first-ever quadruple century in red-ball cricket.
Lara scored the first 400 in world cricket at St. John’s ground against England. His knock was laced 43 fours and four sixes. The match between West Indies and England ended in a draw.
