SPORTS

Gilchrist smashes world record

By Rajneesh Gupta
April 11, 2006 17:46 IST

The first Test in Fatullah has been a shocking experience for Australia so far.

Expected to register an easy victory, they saw minnows Bangladesh scoring in excess of 350 on the opening day, to end up with a respectable first innings score of 427 on the second day. In contrast, the Australian batsmen struggled as they were bowled out for a paltry 269.

Amid the ruins if there was one Australian who had his reputation intact, it was none other than Adam Gilchrist.

Gilchrist's 144 made 53.53 percent of Australia's total. In doing so, he got two world records on his name. When he clobbered Mohammad Rafique for a mighty six, the first of his six sixes, Gilchrist broke the record for the most sixes in Test cricket.

This was Gilchrist's 88th six in Test cricket and he moved ahead of New Zealand's Chris Cairns, who had clouted 87 sixes in 62 Tests before retiring. Gilchrist ended his innings with a career tally of 93 sixes.

West Indian greats Vivian Richards and Brian Lara come next with 84 and 78 sixes, followed by Australian Matthew Hayden, 75, England's Andrew Flintoff 72 and West Indian Clive Lloyd, 70. Cairns holds the record for most sixes per Test (1.40), followed by Flintoff (1.22) and Gilchrist (1.10).

Most sixes in a Test career:

Player Country Sixes Tests
AC Gilchrist Aus 93 84
CL Cairns NZ 87 62
IVA Richards WI 84 121
BC Lara WI 78 124
ML Hayden Aus 75 83
A Flintoff Eng 72 59
CH Lloyd WI 70 110
IT Botham Eng 67 102
CG Greenidge WI 67 108
CL Hooper WI 63 102
Kapil Dev Ind 61 131

During his innings Gilchrist also became the first wicketkeeper to aggregate 5,000 runs in Tests. His 16 centuries are also the maximum by a wicketkeeper, with Zimbabwean Andy Flower a distant second with 12.

Leading run-scoring keepers in Test cricket:

Wicketkeeper For Tests Inns NO Runs Hs Ave 100s 50s 0s
AC Gilchrist Aus 84 122 18 5112 204* 49.15 16 22 12
AJ Stewart Eng 82 145 15 4540 173 34.92 6 23 11
A Flower Zim 55 100 18 4404 232* 53.71 12 23 4
APE Knott Eng 95 149 15 4389 135 32.75 5 30 8
IA Healy Aus 119 182 23 4356 161* 27.4 4 22 18
RW Marsh Aus 96 150 13 3633 132 26.52 3 16 12
MV Boucher SA 91 127 17 3318 125 30.16 4 21 14
PJL Dujon WI 79 111 11 3146 139 31.46 5 16 8
K Sangakkara SL 44 73 4 2862 230 41.48 7 9 4
SMH Kirmani Ind 88 124 22 2759 102 27.05 2 12 7
FM Engineer Ind 46 87 3 2611 121 31.08 2 16 7
Moin Khan Pak 66 98 8 2581 137 28.68 4 14 5
RD Jacobs WI 65 112 21 2577 118 28.32 3 14 12

Rajneesh Gupta

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