New Delhi. A century before lunch on the very first day of the Test… In terms of five-day cricket, this seems like a far-fetched thought, but it has happened. So far, on the first day of Test cricket, 6 batsmen have scored a century before lunch i.e. in the initial session, including four Australians. The interesting thing is that apart from four openers, two first order batsmen have done this.
It is true that after the introduction of ODI and T20 cricket, now in Test cricket, strokes have been played as soon as batting has come and the scorecard has started moving fast, but this happened thrice even before the first ODI was played on 5 January 1971. Was.
For the first time in 1902, Trumper scored a century before lunch.
The achievement of completing a century before lunch on the first day of Test cricket was first achieved by Victor Trumper of Australia in 1902. He opened the innings with Reggie Duff on the first day of the Fourth Test against England in Manchester and had scored an unbeaten 103 by lunch. However, Trump’s innings did not last long after lunch and Trumper (104) was dismissed after adding just one run to his first session score. During this innings, he stayed at the crease for 113 minutes and hit 14 fours.
In 1926, against England itself, Charles McCartney of Australia scored a century before lunch on the first day of the Test in Leeds. The interesting thing is that McCartney achieved this feat as a first-order batsman. Batting first, Australia lost the wicket of Warren Bedsley on the very first ball of the innings, but after this, McCartney had lunch with the second opener Bill Woodfull. Till then no wicket was allowed to fall. By the time of lunch, McCartney was unbeaten on 112 runs. After lunch, he was dismissed after scoring 143 runs.
Don Bradman has also scored hundreds till lunch
Sir Donald Bradman, the great batsman of world cricket, scored a century in 1930 against England in Leeds till the first session of the first day itself. Australia, batting first, lost opener Archie Jackson on a personal score of 1 run, but Bradman, who came in for batting in the first order, batted very fast and reached his score of 105 not out till lunch. Bradman scored 334 runs (383 minutes, 46 fours) in the match. The match was a draw.
Pakistan’s Majid Khan had scored 108 runs till lunch
First in Asia, Pakistan’s Majid Khan did the feat of scoring a century till lunch on the first day of the Test. He scored an unbeaten 108 in 1976 against New Zealand on the first day of the Karachi Test, till the first session itself. He was later dismissed after scoring 112 runs. This test was a draw.
In the year 2016-17, Australian opener David Warner scored an unbeaten 100 against Pakistan till lunch in Sydney. After lunch, he was dismissed after scoring 113 runs. This test match was won by Australia by 220 runs.
‘Gabbar’ was broken on Afghanistan’s bowlers
On the first day of a Test, the last batsman to complete a century till lunch has been India’s Shikhar Dhawan, who did this feat in 2018 in Bengaluru. While batting on the first day of this Test against Afghanistan, both Indian openers Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan scored centuries. Dhawan had completed a century before lunch in just 87 balls with the help of 18 fours and three sixes. At the end of the first session, he was unbeaten on 104 runs. Dhawan’s innings ended on 107 runs. India won the match by an innings and a huge margin of 262 runs.
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Tags: Cricket, shikhar dhawan
FIRST PUBLISHED : May 08, 2023, 17:47 IST