Mostly, be it a batsman or a bowler, whenever they come on the field, they leave the field only after breaking some or the other record. But there are many records which the players of the new generation have not been able to break yet.
Yes, today we are going to talk about one of these records. This is the record for the fastest double century in Test cricket. Nathan Astle of New Zealand made this record against England on this day in 2002 and even after 20 years, no batsman has been able to break this record yet.
In this match played between New Zealand and England in Christchurch almost two decades ago, Astle made this record by scoring a double century in 153 balls.
In this match, Astle played a blistering innings of 222 runs in 168 balls with the help of 28 fours and 11 sixes, but he could not avoid New Zealand’s defeat.
New Zealand won the toss and decided to bowl first in this match. England were bundled out for just 228 runs in the first innings. Captain Nasir Hussain played an innings of 106 runs during this period, scoring a century. In response, New Zealand were bundled out for 147 in the first innings, with Matthew Hoggard dismissing seven of the hosts’ batsmen. England had a lead of 81 runs after the first innings.
England declared their second innings at 468 on the back of Graham Thorpe’s (200) double century and Flintoff’s 137. In this way, England set a target of 549 runs in front of New Zealand.
Looking at this score, while the eyes of the rest of the New Zealand batsmen were on a draw, Astle wanted to win. He took the bowlers of the visiting team on his target from the beginning, but due to lack of support from the other end, the entire team of New Zealand was reduced to 451 runs. New Zealand had to face defeat by 98 runs in this match.
After Astle’s double century, 179 batsmen have crossed the 200 mark but he could not break his record. Storm batsmen like Ben Stokes, Virender Sehwag, Brendon McCullum and Herschelle Gibbs also fell behind Astle in this list.