Top 10 most brutal innings in Test cricket
A great test match innings is expected to be a high scoring one wherein the temperament of the batsmen is tested to the maximum and the batsman steps up to it. There are tonnes of resolute defences, many leaving-the-ball-alones, and boundaries which come about only when a loose ball is presented, that constitute such an inning. And then there have been brutal knocks by players who have given no respect whatsoever to the opposition and have played their attacking game from the word go. Presented here is a collection of the 10 most brutal innings played in test cricket that have literally uprooted the opposition from the game.
10. Adam Gilchrist (152 vs England, Ashes 2001)
Gilly has played quite a few such innings. He came in to bat at no. 7 and smashed the England bowlers all over the park to score a blistering knock of 152 off 143 balls, smashing 20 fours and clearing the stadium a total of 5 times. The Aussies posted a mammoth 576 in reply to England’s first inning 294 and came back with a superb bowling effort to give England an innings defeat. Gilchrist was man of the match. Steve Waugh and Damien Martyn also scored hundreds. Gilly was the last man to get out. He partnered with Martyn for the 7th wicket to add 160 runs to the total and also had a last-run stand of 53 along with McGrath, which enabled Australia to reach such a huge total. McGrath contributed just a single run to the partnership!
Gilchrist reached his hundred in a 118 deliveries and thereafter switched gears during the last-wicket stand when he realised he better get as many runs as possible before the opposition bowl them out. He pelted 22 runs off a Mark Butcher over to take the score from 542 to 564, before he got out 2 overs later to a Caddick delivery.