Highlights:
- Brian Lara’s record of 400 runs in a test match is still the highest score
- He broke Matthew Hayden’s record of 380 runn that day
On 12th April 2004, 16 years ago from today, the legendary West Indies batsman Brian Lara scored the highest ever Test match score when he slammed the England’s bolwers and scored an unbeaten 400 runs.
On the third day of the test match at St John’s in Antigua of the 4th and the final test match of the series of Englan’s tour of the West Indies in 2004, Lara broke Matthew Hayden’s record which stood high and tall at 380 runs which the Australian opener scored against Zimbabwe in Perth just less than a year ago.
Though the match ended in a draw but the innings played by Lara has been etched in the cricketing world and not to mention the fans.
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Before Hayden, it was again Lara who held the record of the highest score in a Test Match and guess what it was against the same team (England) at the same venue in 1994 which was then broken by Hayden 9 years later and reclaimed by Lara less than a year later.
Though West Indies had lost the first 3 matches, Lara won the toss for the last match and elected to bat first and made history.
Facing what was a formidable bowling attack at that time which the likes of Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, and Matthew Hoggard Lara faced 582 deliveries and spent almost 13 hours at the crease and hit 4 sixes and 43 boundaries as he paced on the road to 400 runs and became the first and the only player to score 400 runs in Test cricket.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) tweeted to applaud the famous innings by Brian Lara and wrote “#OnThisDay in 2004, Brian Lara slammed a record-beating 400* against England in St John’s. It remains the highest-ever individual score in Tests. An extraordinary knock by an extraordinary cricketer”.
#OnThisDay in 2004, Brian Lara slammed a record-beating 400* against England in St John’s ?
— ICC (@ICC) April 12, 2020
It remains the highest-ever individual score in Tests.
An extraordinary knock by an extraordinary cricketer ? pic.twitter.com/eDSj9RzxFq
What is interesting is that Brian Lara also holds the record for scoring the highest runs in First-Class cricket with his unbeaten score of 501 against Durham when he was playing for Warwickshire in the English County Championship in 1994.
