Justin Greaves rewrites record books with Test double-century vs NZ
What's the story
The first Test match between New Zealand and the West Indies in Christchurch ended in a historic draw. The game was tense with all three results possible at one stage. WI were chasing a massive target of 531 runs but managed to avoid defeat thanks to some stellar performances, especially from Justin Greaves, who scored a double-century. The WI all-rounder shattered numerous records during his stay. Here we decode the same.
Player highlights
A knock of ages from Greaves
WI were reduced to 72/4 when Greaves arrived to bat. He joined forces with fellow centurion Shai Hope (140) as the two batters steadied the innings with a 196-run stand before Hope departed. The quick fall of two more wickets reduced WI to 277/6. However, Greaves then found another potent partner in Kemar Roach. The duo survived 409 balls as a pair - powering their team to a draw. Greaves completed his double-ton in the final few overs.
Stats
Greaves joins these names
Greaves survived as many as 388 balls for his 202* in the fourth innings (19 fours). As per ESPNcricinfo, he became just the fourth WI batter to hammer a double-hundred in Test run chases. He has joined George Headley, Gordon Greenidge, and Kyle Mayers. Meanwhile, no other batter, while operating at six or lower, even has a score of 160 in the fourth innings of a Test.
Information
Do you know?
Nathan Astle is the only other batter with a fourth-innings double hundred on NZ soil, having scored 222 versus England in Christchurch (2002). No other batter besides Greaves and Astle has crossed the 170-run mark in this regard.
Partnerships
Greaves was involved in two record partnerships
Greaves added 196 off 382 balls with Hope for the fifth wicket before being involved in an 180*-run partneship with Roach for the seveth wicket. These are two of the three highest fourth-innings Test partnerships on NZ soil. India's Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly hold the second place - 194* in Hamilton, 1999. Meanwhile, Greaves and Roach batted for 409 balls together. No other pair, for the seventh wicket or lower, has survived even 270 balls in the fourth innings.
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More partnership feats for Roach and Greaves
Greaves and Roach also broke the record for the highest fourth-innings partnership for the seventh wicket or lower. Their 180-run stand broke the previous record held by India's Sachin Tendulkar and Manoj Prabhakar from 35 years ago (160* vs England in Manchester).
Stats
Here are his Test numbers
This was Greaves's second Test ton and a third 50-plus score in the format. He has now raced to 631 runs from 12 Tests at 31.55. Notably, the lower-order batter bagged a duck in the first innings of the game. With the ball, he owns 17 Test wickets at an average of 38.23.