April 12 2004 and April 12th 1976, two of the most famous dates in all of cricket by two of the greatest batters in all of cricket- two massive world records that stood the test of time
2004
Ten years to the week after Brian Lara first broke the record for the highest score in Tests, he did it again, piling on 400 in the fourth Test against England in St John's, to become the first player to reclaim the record. Matthew Hayden, who had topped Lara's 375 with 380 off Zimbabwe in Perth, had held the record for just six months. At the start of the Test, West Indies were staring at a whitewash, and even a century may not have been enough to save Lara's captaincy. But the innings, on a featherbed of a pitch, restored dignity to both Lara and his beleaguered side.
Ten years to the week after Brian Lara first broke the record for the highest score in Tests, he did it again, piling on 400 in the fourth Test against England in St John's, to become the first player to reclaim the record. Matthew Hayden, who had topped Lara's 375 with 380 off Zimbabwe in Perth, had held the record for just six months. At the start of the Test, West Indies were staring at a whitewash, and even a century may not have been enough to save Lara's captaincy. But the innings, on a featherbed of a pitch, restored dignity to both Lara and his beleaguered side.
1976
A famous victory for India, who chased a then-record 406 to beat West Indies in the third Test, in Trinidad. They did it pretty comfortably too, with seven of the mandatory last 20 overs to spare, and it remained the highest fourth-innings total to win a Test until West Indies did it themselves against Australia in 2003 in Antigua. All this after Clive Lloyd declared his second innings at six wickets down when Alvin Kallicharran reached his hundred. Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath both made centuries, as Albert Padmore, Raphick Jumadeen and Inshan Ali (combined innings figures: 2 for 220) failed to make the most of a gently turning pitch, on which three times as many wickets fell to the spinners (21) as to the seamers (7). Lloyd never was very keen on spinners, and this match made up his mind that from then on it would be pace, pace, pace.
A famous victory for India, who chased a then-record 406 to beat West Indies in the third Test, in Trinidad. They did it pretty comfortably too, with seven of the mandatory last 20 overs to spare, and it remained the highest fourth-innings total to win a Test until West Indies did it themselves against Australia in 2003 in Antigua. All this after Clive Lloyd declared his second innings at six wickets down when Alvin Kallicharran reached his hundred. Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath both made centuries, as Albert Padmore, Raphick Jumadeen and Inshan Ali (combined innings figures: 2 for 220) failed to make the most of a gently turning pitch, on which three times as many wickets fell to the spinners (21) as to the seamers (7). Lloyd never was very keen on spinners, and this match made up his mind that from then on it would be pace, pace, pace.
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