THE BEST OF BRIAN LARA

 

Image Credit- ESPN CricInfo.

Venue- Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica [March 1999]

In the summer of 1999, Australian Cricket Team toured West Indies to play 4 Tests and 7 One Day Internationals.  The Windies were not in their best of forms. Due to this Brian Lara was announced as the Captain of the Side for only first two tests. Hence it was quite apparent that Lara has to win if he wants to save his captaincy. Unfortunately, the Windies suffered a humiliating defeat in the first test as the Aussies won it by a massive 312 runs. As a result, the second test was a must win game for Lara to save his captaincy and for Windies to keep their hopes alive in this series. One more defeat and it would have marked an end to Lara's Captaincy tenure. 

Things did not start very well as the Aussie Captain Steve Waugh won the toss and decided to bat first. However, it was not that easy to bat upon, but Captain Waugh scored a wonderful 100. Apart from him only his brother Mark (67) managed to get past 50 as the visitors were bowled out for 256 in their first innings. Courtney Walsh picked up 4, whereas Pedro Collins managed to get 3 wickets. 

In response the Windies were struggling at 56/4. It appeared that the Aussies would bowl them below 100 and will take a huge lead. However, this is when Captain Lara played one the greatest knocks. In such a tough condition he scored an incredible 213 and helped his team go past 400. His innings comprised of 29 boundaries and 3 massive sixes. It is pertinent to note that this knock was not just about power hitting, but also about class and timing. Alongside Lara, Jimmy Adams too scored a gritty 94 as the West Indies ended up scoring 431 in their first innings. The balance of the game shifted in favor of the Host Nation.

The Aussies were on a backfoot now and the lethal bowling of the Men in Maroon made sure that they level the series. The Visitors were bowled out for just 177 runs and the Windies needed just 3 runs to win the match and level the series. It was an easy target which the Hosts chased down in just 3 deliveries. 

The match was won the series was well and truly alive because of just one cricketer- Brian Charles Lara.  

To watch the knock of Brain Lara, Click Here.