Brian Lara is one of those batters whose almost every innings he plays can be counted in the best innings he ever played because of the elegance, skills he possessed. Only a very special kind of player was the level of batter that the great Brian Lara was and all cricket fans considered themselves lucky that he chose this sport to play in his career and gave everyone such joy
The number of amazing Innings Brian Lara has played cannot be counted in even two fingers as the number is so huge but still we will try to do justice to this all time legend. So, let’s look at the Top 5 best innings of one of the greatest ever , Brian Lara.
153* vs Australia in Bridgetown (1999): Brian Lara’s Best Test Innings
Brian Lara has played many innings with Scores much bigger than this but there is no innings better in his career than this fourth Innings classic that he played against Australia in Bridgetown. Chasing a difficult 308 to win in the last innings he was one man who stood there and played the innings of his life and guided the West Indies team home by just one wicket in one of the most famous wins in test cricket. This knock was also voted Wisden’s best knock of the 1990s , that's how good this was.
Do check the full scorecard to relive this classic closely: West Indies vs Australia - 3rd Test at Bridgetown - Mar 26 1999
277 vs Australia in Sydney (1993)
Imagine playing the first test match for your nation and the amount of pressure and expectations that come along with it and to play such an incredible innings right out the gate is a statement of intent and arrival if ever there was one. West Indies were in a spot of bother at 31/2 and then came the debutant Lara and then he started smashing the much famed Australia attack in his debut test innings and with the help of 38 brilliant boundaries notched up a massive score of 277 runs. Imperious was the perfect word for this innings and a new superstar had arrived in world cricket.
169 vs Sri Lanka in Sharjah (1995): Brian Lara Highest Score in ODI
This is the best ODI innings in the career of Brian Lara and it came against Sri Lanka at the iconic Sharjah cricket stadium in a tightly contested match where he showed all his class and destructiveness as he tore apart the great bowling attack of Sri Lanka at a strike rate of 131 which was unheard of back then. This innings shows that this young man from the West Indies will become one of the best ever to do it irrespective of the format of the game. This was the Brian Lara and all of us were living in it.
375 vs England in St John’s (1994)
Brian Lara in the year 1994 created history in the world of cricket as he made the highest ever test score at that time. He just batted and batted and just tormented the English bowlers that match hitting an insane 45 fours and toying with everyone and the spectators that came to witness that match were a part of history. This innings put Lara immediately on the world map and cemented him as one of the best ever of his generation. He would eventually break the record for the highest score in test matches in a decade.
400* vs England in St John’s (2004): Brian Lara Highest Score in Test
What Brian Lara did in this match was unthinkable and unheard of before this match. To score 400 in a test innings is absolutely mind-boggling and to do it against a world class England bowling attack made this even more special. He made 375 against the same team a decade ago but this time he got those 25 extra runs that he didn’t get the last time. His innings consisted of 43 fours and 4 huge Sixes and the English bowlers after a point were absolutely helpless and they were also enjoying the spectacle before them. It’s been 20 years and this incredible record of Brian Lara for highest individual test score still stands and it will take a superhuman effort to break this record.
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