Top 6 scores by a batsman while carrying his bat through a Test innings
It is quite rare to see an opener bat through the innings in a Test match. The main role of an opener in Test cricket is to blunt out the new ball, so that it becomes a little easier for the middle order. Hence, it is difficult to see a batsman bat through an entire innings in Test cricket.
In cricket’s 141-year history, there have only been 53 instances of a batsman carrying his bat through. Hence, here we look at top 6 scores by a batsman while carrying his bat through the innings.
#6 Virender Sehwag – 201 vs Sri Lanka (2008)
In 2008, when India toured Sri Lanka, Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis spun a web around the famed visitors' batting line-up and India lost the 3-match Test series 2-1.
After a thrashing in the first Test, India elected to bat first in Galle. Despite a 167-run opening partnership, India could only manage just 329. Only three batsmen went past the 10-run mark (Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and VVS Laxman).
Gambhir and Laxman got starts but didn’t convert into big scores, but Virender Sehwag was absolutely magnificent. He made 201 out of 329 and carried his bat. He went after Muralitharan and Mendis and looked very comfortable against the two of them when the others were failing to read them.
Sehwag played 231 balls and struck 22 fours and 4 sixes. When all the others were struggling to survive, the Delhi dasher batted with a strike-rate of 87. He became the second Indian batsman to carry his bat through a Test innings (the first was Sunil Gavaskar).
In the second innings, Sehwag once again contributed with a 50 as helped India to get off to a good start in the second innings. India set Sri Lanka a target of 307 which they failed to get and it helped India level the series. Sehwag was the Man of the Match for his stupendous performance.