Richardson does it again

New Zealand openers Mark Richardson and Lou Vincent scored centuries on the opening day of the second Test against India at Mohali on Thursday.

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It is the fourth instance in New Zealand's Test history that both openers scored centuries in the same innings.

Charles Dempster and John Mills were the first Kiwi openers to score centuries in the same innings. They put on 276 runs for the first wicket against England at the Basin Reserve, Wellington, in January 1930. The match, however, ended in a draw.

Openers Glenn Turner and Terrence Jarvis were the second pair to score centuries in the same innings. Turner scored a double century (259) as the duo put on 387 runs for the first wicket against the West Indies in April 1972. It is New Zealand's highest opening stand in Test cricket. This match too ended in a draw.

Mark R ichardson and Matthew Bell also hit centuries in the same innings in a first-wicket partnership of 181 against Pakistan, at Hamilton in March 2001. It enabled the Kiwis beat Pakistan by a huge margin of an innings and 85 runs.

Richardson repeated the feat with Lou Vincent on Thursday. The pair were involved in a record opening partnership of 231 runs, which gave New Zealand a firm grip on the match.

Vincent was out on 106, while Richardson was unbeaten on 102 at close of play on day 1.