When Nathan Astle scored the fastest 200 in Test history

England won the first Test of their tour to New Zealand in 2002. But the match is widely known for an unusual batting display by Nathan Astle. He scored 222 runs from 168 balls, with 28 fours and 11 huge sixes.

England's first innings was a pretty ordinary one, with a modest 228 runs on board. Captain Nasser Hussain (106) batted till the end to make sure that they cross the 200-run mark.

The New Zealand batting line-up was ripped apart by Mathew Hoggard with a fiery spell of 63/7, and the Kiwis were bundled for a paltry 147.

The English batsmen were much more fluent in the 2nd innings. Graeme Thorpe (200) and Andrew Flintoff (137) batted with a strike-rate of 80+ and they declared at 468.

Chasing a target of 540+was almost impossible at those times. New Zealand lost wickets at right intervals and they were pushed to 339/9. When the English bowlers thought the match was over, there was one man at the crease who had some weird plans in his mind.

Astle started sending the deliveries back-to-back to the crowd. There came a 10-run over, 15-run over, 20-run over and even a 25-run over. From annoying, it became threatening for the Englishmen.

Alas, he was caught by Foster off Hoggard’s delivery which ended one of the greatest Test innings ever.


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