Delhi: It is being mentioned now and will continue to be mentioned about how many records were broken by Kamindu Mendis by scoring 182* during the second test against New Zealand in Galle. One point of discussion in this is that why was he not given a chance to score his first 200? However, he was not the first one who was close to the score of 200 but declared the innings over.
There are two unlucky batsmen who scored 199* in Test cricket, but at least they did not complain that the innings was declared over. These records are held by Andy Flower (for Zimbabwe against South Africa in Harare in 2001-02) and Kumar Sangakkara (for Sri Lanka against Pakistan in Galle in 2012). Top 10 Test scores which were closest to 200 in declared innings:
197* – Frank Worrell (West Indies) in 1960: This was the first Test of the England tour in Bridgetown and was a draw. There was major controversy when captain Gerry Alexander declared the innings over on Worrell’s score of 197*. In reply to England’s 482, West Indies made 563-8 and knew that the Test would be a draw but they were not given a chance. It is written in some books that Worrell had played for more than 11 hours and was not scoring runs fast despite repeated requests.
195* – Usman Khawaja (Australia) in 2023: Pat Cummins did not give the Australian opener a chance despite scoring 195* against South Africa at the SCG. There were not many chances of a result in the test which had two days of heavy rain and poor light. The test was a draw.
194* – Sachin Tendulkar (India) in 2004: When Rahul Dravid declared the innings against Pakistan in Multan, Tendulkar was on 194* and the score was 675-5 in reply to Pakistan’s 407. Dravid was in a hurry to take the wicket before the end of the day, although no wicket fell but the test was won. Tendulkar was very angry with this decision of Dravid.
189* – Jacques Kallis (South Africa) in 2001: This is the same drawn test against Zimbabwe in which Kallis broke the world record for the longest stay at the crease, between two dismissals, and that is why Kallis hid his displeasure of his 189* in South Africa’s innings declared at 519-8.
183* – Andy Flower (Zimbabwe) in 2000: Flower came to bat at number 5 and at one time the team was at 155/5. Here he scored 183* and took the score to 422/9 runs. Although number 11 Olonga supported Flower for more than two and a half hours, captain Heath Streak declared the innings over in case India got any wicket before the end of the day’s play.
182* – Phil Mead (England) in 1921: Mead’s 182* against the Australian fast bowlers Gregory and MacDonald was spectacular and was then the top score by any English batsman against Australia in England. Mead was playing fast and even scored 109 runs between the start of play and lunch on the second day, even then Lord Tennyson declared the innings over.
182* – Sunil Gavaskar (India) in 1978: Created history in Kolkata and scored 182* against West Indies in a drawn Test, making a record of two 100s in Tests (107 in the first innings). Gavaskar himself was the captain but did not stop at 200 in his desire to win the Test.
182* – Viv Richards (West Indies) in 1981: With West Indies 265 and England 122, Richards played a brilliant innings in search of quick runs but Lloyd declared the innings at 379/7 although Richards was playing as if he would not have taken much time for his 200. West Indies won the match by 298 runs.
182* – Jacques Kallis (South Africa) in 2012: South Africa defeated England by an innings and 12 runs on the fifth day of the Test at the Oval. Although Kallis was on 182*, captain Graeme Smith wanted to give his bowlers full time to take 10 wickets so did not wait.
182* – Kamindu Mendis (Sri Lanka) in 2024: Captain Dhananjay de Silva declared the innings over in an attempt to take some wickets for the visiting New Zealand team before the end of the second day’s play. However, New Zealand proved with its reply that there was no need for such haste.