Nowadays, a double century at a strike rate of nearly 100 in Test cricket is considered a usual business, but back in 2002, it was a big thing and one of the few batters who used to play T20 cricket long before it became fashionable, Adam Gilchrist did that by scoring 204 runs off 213 balls in the first of the three-match Test series against South Africa.
The Record
The innings in question was the then fastest double-century by any batter in the oldest format of the game, which included 19 fours and eight and helped Australia register a win by a massive margin of an innings and 360 runs.
The Calm
Australia were in a strong position with the scoreboard reading 331 for 5 at the beginning of the second day of the first Test of the series. Adam Gilchrist was batting on 21 and was accompanied by Damien Martyn on the score of 25, but none of the Australians would have anticipated the carnage that was about to take place.
The Storm
Gilchrist hit Neil McKenzie for 20 runs in an over, who replaced the South African quicks, as all of them were taken to the cleaners by Gilchrist.
Although the South African bowling attack was without the services of Shaun Pollock, it had four pacers in the form of Allan Donald, Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel and all-rounder Jacques Kallis, but none of them had the answers to Glichrist’s assault.
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What They Said
Former Australian captain Allan Border, who was on air at the time when Adam Gilchrist reached the milestone, praised him and said, “Appreciative teammates and supporters all around the ground have seen one of the great Test knocks. I haven’t had too much time to reflect on what I did.”
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Player’s Corner
Gilchrist explained how he and Damien Martyn benefited from the strong platform provided to them by the top order. In the words of theAustralian wicketkeeper batter, “It’s a fantastic personal milestone, but the partnership was just as memorable. Damien and I were the beneficiaries of great work of the top order that allowed us to play our natural games.”
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The Partnership
The 317 run stand for the sixth wicket between Adam Gilchrist and Damien Martyn is the highest partnership in Australia’s Test history as the duo took the score to 610 for 6.
The Batting
Other than Gilchrist, who played a record-breaking innings, Damien Martin and Matthew Hayden also scored centuries, respectively and helped Australia post a mammoth total of 652 for the loss of seven wickets.
The Knock
Glichrist completed his double-century in 212 balls, which was the fastest double century by a batter at that time. Gilchrist broke the record of Sir Ian Botham, who reachedthe milestone in 220 balls against India in 1982.
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