Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever

[Cricketics]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever i think u didnt watch that live, he was dropped twice before he reached 100, and then later he got dropped by healy.. i just saw that video posted above, the healy dropping the catch can bee seen, chk that.. though by saying that, i dont mean it was not a good knock, it was under lot of pressure, hence deserves some applauds..

[CC1981]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever

i think u didnt watch that live, he was dropped twice before he reached 100, and then later he got dropped by healy..

Watched it live, got it on dvd and no, he wasnt dropped twice before reaching 100. He hit a uppish cover drive that was about 5 feet away from the fielder when it whistled past him- thats not a chance by any immagination. Lara's innings was utterly flawless except for one very sharp outside edge that MEW grassed. And any catch in slips that MEW grassed (the greatest slipper of modern times IMO) should automatically tell you that it was less than a half-chance.

[Bumper]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever

153* closely but decisively beats out the 281 in my books. The 153* really had it all, plus it was a one-man show against the greatest bowling lineup of modern times on a pitch that was harder to bat on. Superb writeup, Dhondy!

153 decisively beats 281 ? On what basis ? Thats the first time am hearing that. Lara took WI from 105/5 to 308. VVS took us from a MAMMOTH innings defeat, with half the top order already back in the pavilion, erased the deficit, then built a lead, then built a match winning lead & eventually helped us declare. To me the comparison does not even begin. History has a few instances of the 153 type knock, which helped teams chase down a sizable 4th innings total. But u would have to dig the history quite a bit, to come up with a parallel to 281.

[Dhondy]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever It was Healy, CC. And I couldn't see any other obvious chances turfed either.

[CC1981]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever

Thats the first time am hearing that.

really ? Well its been debated over and over again from what i've seen and the reasons 153* comes out on top is very simple : 1. Much more bowler-friendly track 2. Batting in a much weaker batting lineup 3. History does not have a 153* like knock. Not that i know of atleast. The 281 has precedence - 334 by Hanif in similar circumstances ( batting second following on after facing a HUGE deficit) 4. Batting against a stronger bowling attack - McGrath-Warne-Gillespie-McGill is better than McGrath-Warne-Gillespie-Kasprowicz 5. Superior demonstration of batting with the tail However, as i said, i'd put 281 just behind it-narrowly so and as the third greatest innings ever.

[CC1981]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever

It was Healy, CC. And I couldn't see any other obvious chances turfed either.

Thanks for the correction, Doc. Heals it is. And healy was safe as a swiss bank when it came to catching behind the stumps...the fact that he grassed it should tell us how flipping hard the chance was and it was nothing more than a half-chance.

[Cricketics]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever

Thats the first time am hearing that.

really ? Well its been debated over and over again from what i've seen and the reasons 153* comes out on top is very simple : 1. Much more bowler-friendly track 2. Batting in a much weaker batting lineup 3. History does not have a 153* like knock. Not that i know of atleast. The 281 has precedence - 334 by Hanif in similar circumstances ( batting second following on after facing a HUGE deficit) 4. Batting against a stronger bowling attack - McGrath-Warne-Gillespie-McGill is better than McGrath-Warne-Gillespie-Kasprowicz 5. Superior demonstration of batting with the tail However, as i said, i'd put 281 just behind it-narrowly so and as the third greatest innings ever.

bowler friendly track hmmm??? on same track aus cored 490 in first inng, and windies in 1st inng scored 329 too, which was not good, but not very bad too.. then coming to Laxmanz knock, 281, under pressure was a classic knock, and we shouldn't forget Dravid's contribution too.. Lara scored 153 in 2nd inning, and same thing Dravid and Laxman too, Lara had to chase the target, but Laxman and Dravid had to finish up the trail first and then go for a big lead to defend... though i dont like to compare that laraz knock with that of Laxman, but as the debate was going on, so thought of placing a comment on right direction..

[CC1981]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever

on same track aus cored 490 in first inng, and windies in 1st inng scored 329 too, which was not good, but not very bad too..

Well it wasnt the flattest of tracks to bat in but definitely easier track to bat on than Bridgetown...

[Cricketics]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever and also, laxman and Dravid had to face the bowling attack which had helpeed aus win 13 games in a row..

[Gambit]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever

It was Healy, CC. And I couldn't see any other obvious chances turfed either.

Thanks for the correction, Doc. Heals it is. And healy was safe as a swiss bank when it came to catching behind the stumps...the fact that he grassed it should tell us how flipping hard the chance was and it was nothing more than a half-chance.

You've got the DVD and yet you think it was a hard chance? It was the simplest of catches. It was heading to Warne(1st slip) but Healy went for it. He still could have held on to it. IIRC Lara was on 148 when this happened.

[Gambit]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever Watch 4:47 in that video.

[yoda]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever Yea, it was a reasonably easy chance to keeper, marginally high though, but clearly within a keeper's range. If the keeper had let that one go, first slip was waiting right behind. Most of the great innings have a life or two though. Didn't the 281 have one as well?

[Bumper]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever

Thats the first time am hearing that.

really ? Well its been debated over and over again from what i've seen and the reasons 153* comes out on top is very simple : 1. Much more bowler-friendly track

I dont know about bowler friendly track. The totals resp on this track were 490, 329, 146, 105/5 (prior to Lara's innings). The totals in Kolkatta were 445, 171 & 115/3 (prior to Laxman's innings). Facts dont support such a claim.

2. Batting in a much weaker batting lineup

So how does batting in a stronger batting lineup after losing your top order help Laxman score 281 after being 115/3 (losing your premier batsman Sachin Tendulkar) ? BTW, the weaker batting lineup had a Campbell who scored a first innings century to help WI to 329. The stronger batting lineup was bundled out for 171. :lmao:

3. History does not have a 153* like knock. Not that i know of atleast. The 281 has precedence - 334 by Hanif in similar circumstances ( batting second following on after facing a HUGE deficit)

How about Ramnaresh Sarwan's century chasing 400+ ? How about Sunny & Vishy's centuries chasing 400+ ? The odds were bigger in these two innings. Both were world record chases. And the latter was away from home

4. Batting against a stronger bowling attack - McGrath-Warne-Gillespie-McGill is better than McGrath-Warne-Gillespie-Kasprowicz

Pls tell me u are kidding :lmao: I hardly see any difference in the bowling attack. If anything one could argue the 1999 bowling attack was the easier one to navigate. Lara never had trouble against spin, he had only two bowlers to contend with (McG & Gillespie). Gillespie had hardly played 10 tests in 1999 (with a stop start career after debuting in 1996). These sort of excuses really dilute your stronger points, which doesnt number many in this instance :hic:

5. Superior demonstration of batting with the tail

This aint about batting with the tail, rather who fought the bigger odds ? Thats how u rank the greatness of an innings -- using the degree of difficulty.

However, as i said, i'd put 281 just behind it-narrowly so and as the third greatest innings ever.

So now 153 pips 281 by a narrow margin ? But i thought u said "153 decisively beats 281" :hic:

[Bumper]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever I honestly think greatness of an innings is hyped up a lot bigger than it deserves, when a big star plays that innings. If an SRT had scored 281 instead of Laxman, we wouldnt even be debating the two innings.

[King]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever If I have to be honest I can count a lot of inning that were of much more higher quality. I don't want to get swayed by Lara's retirement and quote this as the best I've ever watched. I don't want to get into this debate as which inning was better simply because it lies in the eyes of the beholder. IMO it is far from truth to even claim this inning as the greatest ever. It was one of the better inning yes but to say greatest is to ignore a lot of knocks from the rest of the batters from around the world. If you ask a pom he will tell ya he hasn't seen a better inning than the one Botham turned up in the 1981 Ashes. That series was dubbed as Botham's Ashes. Similarly an Aussie will bring up innumerous inning from Border and Waugh to stake claim to the greatest inning ever. I really don't want to get to debate this more simply because it will feel like I am questioning Lara's greatness. Simply put Lara's greatness cannot be measured based on an inning, it could be his best all right but not the best in the world I've ever watched. This sure is one of the memorable inning by Lara though. Bottom line is of course Lara is as good the best the world has ever seen. An inning or two cannot measure such greatness.

[Chandan]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever

McGrath-Warne-Gillespie-McGill is better than McGrath-Warne-Gillespie-Kasprowicz

This is the most hilarious comment I've read on the forum since a while! So McGill is a better bowler? Looks like you've forgotten completely how Indian batsmen slaughtered him in 2003!!! :hic:

[chanakya]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever

McGrath-Warne-Gillespie-McGill is better than McGrath-Warne-Gillespie-Kasprowicz

This is the most hilarious comment I've read on the forum since a while! So McGill is a better bowler? Looks like you've forgotten completely how Indian batsmen slaughtered him in 2003!!! :hic:

You know we should seriously stop comparing how bad spinners are against India. Even Warne does not have a decent record against India. His record against the other countries is much much better.

[King Tendulkar]

Re: Memories of The Greatest Innings Ever The thread title should be edited. Everyone knows the greatest innings was no doubt VVS Laxamns! I am sure Rohan would agree with me :hic: