File image of Brian Lara, former West Indies cricket team captain.© AFP
On the cricket field, rarely has a batter exuded so much elegance as Brian Lara. The West Indies great stood tall among his contemporaries with his stylish batting, which often looked effortless. With a huge back-lift, Lara’s grace had the world in awe. He is the holder of the highest individual Test score of 400*, which he scored in 2004. But 10 years before that, on June 6, 1994, Lara stayed unbeaten on 501 for Warwickshire against Durham in a County Championship match. It stays the highest individual score in a First-Class match and today is the 28th anniversary of the special feat.
Warwickshire remembered the feat with a special tweet saying: “One of the greatest innings. Can’t believe it was 28 years ago today!”
One of the greatest innings. Can’t believe it was 28 years ago today!
#YouBears pic.twitter.com/zTr4EXigpM
— Bears (@WarwickshireCCC) June 6, 2022
Lara’s innings was studded with 62 fours and 10 sixes. To make things more interesting, Lara reached the historic 501* mark off just 427 balls.
Batting first, after Durham declared the first innings on 556/8, Lara took charge. Coming to bat at No. 3, with the scoreboard reading 8/1, the batting great played with perfection. Courtesy that knock, Warwickshire scored a massive total of 810/4 and the match ended in a draw.
Promoted
The Trinidad-born legend is currently the batting coach of Indian Premier League side SunRisers Hyderabad, where he oversaw the rise of pacer Umran Malik. The 22-year-old pace sensation took 22 wickets in 14 matches in the IPL 2022. Lara said that the Indian reminds him a lot of West Indies pacer Fidel Edwards.
“Umran Malik reminds me a lot about Fidel Edwards when he first started, a lot of pace and I hope that he understands it as he goes into international cricket, which I think he’ll eventually play,” Lara said on ‘Cricket Live’ on Star Sports.
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