Published: Jan 05, 2015, 02:36 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 05, 2015, 02:36 PM (IST)
Brian Charles Lara was a gift to cricket. Since the inception of the sport, it has been graced with several great batsmen. Lara brought in something which a few managed to do. A mix of flair, flamboyance, style, intimidation and most importantly results.
Lara had the unique knack of producing gems under immense pressure, which often turned the course of the match. He loved getting hundreds, and they came big!
On this day, 22-years back, Lara pummelled his way to 277 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). This was the first hundred of his glorious career.
It was an innings which set the tone of the series to West Indies favour. West Indies just managed to escape a defeat in the first Test, while they couldn’t avert that in the second as they lost the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne by 139 runs.
The New Year’s Test began with Australia winning the toss and putting on 503, thanks to Steve Waugh’s hundred. The visitors lost their openers early and were 31 for two, when Lara walked in.
Prior to this outing, Lara had played only four Tests. Having made his debut in December 1990, he had to wait for more than a year for another opportunity. The 23-year old Lara had scored three fifties and averaged 30.50.
Lara unleashed an array of astounding stokes. His off-side play was a treat. The cuts, drives and the punches were authoritative and runs kept coming at a brisk pace. Lara and his captain Richie Richardson added 293 for the third wicket. Richardson also went on to get a hundred, a gritty one, when compared to the artistic Lara.
Richardson, later said, “I can hardly remember my hundred. It was difficult playing and being a spectator [to Lara’s innings] at the same time.”
Lara batted for almost eight hours to score 277, an innings that contained 38 boundaries, against a potent bowling attack that had the likes of Craig McDermott, Merv Hughes and Shane Warne. Thanks to his exploits in this city, Lara later went to name his daughter Sydney!
The Test ended in a draw but it did inject a lot of boost to the visiting West Indian side, as they turned the tables to come back strong and win the next two Tests, eventually winning the series.
