As Brian Lara turns 51, let's relive his 400-run knock against England
May 02, 2020
New Delhi [India], May 2 : As former West Indies skipper Brian Lara turns 51, let's relive his 400-run knock against England.
Lara had registered a knock of 400 against England in the fourth Test of the four-match series in 2004 at the Antigua Recreation Stadium and it still remains as the highest individual score in Test cricket.
Opting to bat first, Lara had come to the crease with West Indies at 98/2. The left-handed batsman then went on to mesmerise everyone with his knock of 400 studded with 43 fours and four sixes.
With the help of this knock, West Indies went on to register a massive 751/7 in the first innings. With this innings, Lara broke the record of Australia's Matthew Hayden for registering the highest individual score in Test cricket.
Hayden had earlier played a knock of 380 runs against Zimbabwe in 2003. Co-incidentally, the left-handed Hayden had broken Lara's record at that time after surpassing Windies' batsman 375-run knock in 1994.
England was bowled out for 285 in their first innings, however, Michael Vaughan's century in the second innings helped England to draw the match against the Windies.
On the occasion of Lara's birthday, let us also revisit his unbeaten knock of 153 against Australia at Barbados in 1999.
Chasing a target of 308, West Indies at one point found itself at 105/5, but Lara's knock helped the side from the Caribbean to register an improbable one-wicket victory.
What made the knock even more special is the fact that no other batsman from either side managed to score more than 40 runs in the second innings of the Test.
Lara's knock of 153 was studded with 19 fours and one six, and in the end, he remained unbeaten to take his side over the line.
Lara also holds the record for highest individual score ever in first-class cricket (501 not out).
In 1994, playing for Warwickshire against Durham at Edgbaston, Lara scored 501 not out.
Lara had announced his retirement from international cricket in 2007. He finished his career with 22,358 runs and 53 international centuries.
He also shares the test record of scoring the highest number of runs in a single over in a Test match. The 50-year-old smashed South Africa's Robin Peterson of South Africa for 28 runs in a single over in 2003.
The left-handed Lara played 131 Tests and 299 ODIs for West Indies. He managed to score 11,953 runs in the longest format of the game while he registered 10,405 runs in the 50-over format.
