Legends of Cricket: Brian Lara - Part 1
The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 cricket team was a cricketing powerhouse from the mid seventies to the early nineties. They won the cricket world cup twice in 1975 and then again in 1979. They have produced a number of cricketing legends and were a nightmare for their opponents
when it came to both batting and bowling.
Amongst the many legendary West Indian players was the mighty Brian Lara. Lara topped the test batting rankings on a number of occasions and is the holder of a number of records in international cricket. Amongst them is the record for the highest number
of runs scored in a first class match, 501 which Lara scored for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Durham-c782 at Edgbaston in 1994.
This is the only time in cricketing history that a batsman scored a quintuple hundred. In 1993-94 Lara scored the then highest score in test cricket, 375 against England at the Antigua Recreation Ground, St. John's. Lara stood at the crease for seven hundred
and sixty-six minutes, faced five hundred and thirty eight balls and hit forty five boundaries in all.
It was a mammoth innings which showed the world Lara’s true class as one of the greatest batsmen in test cricket. In 2003-04 the Australian juggernaut Matthew Hayden broke Lara’s record of the highest score in a test match when he scored 380 runs against
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746. Zimbabwe being a weaker opposition considering their lack of success at the test match level, Hayden’s innings though brilliant in its own right was not as hard fought as Lara’s was against the English.
The same year Lara was to take back what was rightly his in epic fashion. Batting against the same opposition as before; the English, at the Antigua Recreation Ground, St. John's. Lara broke Mathew Hayden’s record of 380 by scoring for the first time in
test cricket history, a quadruple century. The new world record for the highest score in test cricket, 400 not out, was back with Lara again.
At the age of 35, when a player’s form is slowly leaving him Lara played the best innings of his life showing the world that he was still the best batsman in test cricket. Lara scored the first 50 runs of his innings in 115 minutes, off 61 balls, hitting
seven fours. He reached his century in 192 minutes off 131 balls, hitting 13 fours. The next 50 runs were added by Lara after he had been at the crease for 278 minutes off 199 balls, hitting a total of 18 fours at this stage. Lara reached his double hundred
in 278 minutes off 260 balls, hitting 22 fours and a six.
The 250 mark was reached after a total of 479 minutes off 323 balls and a total of 27 fours and two sixes. Lara raced on to his triple century after being at the crease for 576 minutes, hitting the ball pass the boundary ropes for a total of 34 times and
2 sixes. The next fifty and a score of 350 was scored by Lara in the space of 678 minutes off 494 balls, hitting 39 fours and 3 sixes.
Lara crossed Mathew Hayden’s score of 380 with a boundary after staying at the crease for a total of 728 minutes off 546 balls, hitting 42 fours and 4 sixes. The world of cricket was witnessing the true ability of a legend. Of a cricketing god. After being
at the crease for an unbelievable 773 minutes, facing a total of 582 balls, hitting 43 fours and 4 sixes, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Brian-Charles-Lara-c48471 had made history. Never before had a batsman scored a quadruple century. Never before had the world seen such genius and class before.
Brian Lara had taken back what was his to begin with, the record for the highest score in a test match. With this mammoth innings Lara showed the world why he was better than all the other batsmen plying their trade in test cricket.
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