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ATG Test knocks in recent times

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Last week A.B.deVilliers played outstanding knock of 126* on not so easy Port Elizabeth pitch. This inings was very special because it was played against world class bowling lineup and in some difficult circumstances. This inings along with Rabada's terrific bowling set south african victory as hosts level the series.
Devilliers' counter attacking knock was surely his best one and probably one of all time great knocks.

Presenting some of the best knocks in recent times that can be listed as all time great test knocks :
1. 176 by Kusal Mendis vs Australia at Kandy
2. 162* by Dinesh Chandimal vs India at Galle
3. 109 by Steven Smith vs India at Pune
4. Twin centuries by Virat Kohli vs Australia at Adelaide
5. 218 by Younis Khan vs England at The Oval
6. 110* by Faf Duplessis vs Austalia at Adelaide
7. 137 by Asad Shafiq vs Australia at Brisbane
 
Would add:

Shai Hope twin centuries vs England
McCullum 302 vs India
Ajinkya Rahane 103 at Lord's
Angelo Mathews 160 vs England
Kraigg Brathwaite 162* and 60* vs Pakistan
Pujara 92 vs Australia
 
Spectrum said:
Last week A.B.deVilliers played outstanding knock of 126* on not so easy Port Elizabeth pitch. This inings was very special because it was played against world class bowling lineup and in some difficult circumstances. This inings along with Rabada's terrific bowling set south african victory as hosts level the series.
Devilliers' counter attacking knock was surely his best one and probably one of all time great knocks.

Presenting some of the best knocks in recent times that can be listed as all time great test knocks :
1. 176 by Kusal Mendis vs Australia at Kandy
2. 162* by Dinesh Chandimal vs India at Galle
3. 109 by Steven Smith vs India at Pune
4. Twin centuries by Virat Kohli vs Australia at Adelaide
5. 218 by Younis Khan vs England at The Oval
6. 110* by Faf Duplessis vs Austalia at Adelaide
7. 137 by Asad Shafiq vs Australia at Brisbane
Click to expand...

The Asad Shafiq, YK, VK, knocks are not ATG. They were great but not even worthy of being discussed as ATG.
 
Cuts_and_cuts_hard said:
Would add:

Shai Hope twin centuries vs England
McCullum 302 vs India
Ajinkya Rahane 103 at Lord's
Angelo Mathews 160 vs England
Kraigg Brathwaite 162* and 60* vs Pakistan
Pujara 92 vs Australia
Click to expand...

Only Pujara's knock along with Brathwaite can be discussed as potential ATG knocks.
 
1) Smith 143 in Brisbane was a top class knock too IMO.

2) Pujara 91 in Bangalore was a too classy inning to have miss out. Definitely deserves there.

3)Kohli's 153 vs SA in SA and Williamson 176 at home(tough pitch) vs SA was high quality too.

AB de Villiers inning is special IMO because he scored those runs against ATG attack at a SR of 87( if he batted slowly, Maharaj and Philander won't have played freely and SA's lead would have been insignificant). The pitch wasn't too difficult to bat mind you although the ball was definitely reversing when he came to bat and the momentum was shifted towards Australia with wickets tumbling from other end. Nevertheless, An ATG inning IMO. A perfect inning really.
 
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Smith Pune inning doesn't make the discussion. His performance over the series was immense but not that single inning.
 
Pietersen's 149 against South Africa at Headingley, mere words can't express the indelible nature of those few hours of cricket on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Yorkshire. I won't ever forget it.
 
Azhar’s 200 in Oz was a very very good knock - was there from start to finish, didn’t look too troubled and the innings was littered with great punches down the ground and dismissing the short ball.

ATG knock? not sure, Azhar at his best though :)

Kohlis 150 against the Saffers recently was pretty special, ball was moving everywhere.
 
Although an Aussie, Clarke's 161* in Cape Town was fantastic. He was hit over and over again by Morkel and just came back every single time.

He was hit:

Ribs. 40.6.
Arm. 42.3
Shoulder and head. 44.3.
Hand. 44.4.
Gut. 44.5.
Thumb. 86.3.

What an innings :14: I will never forget it.
 
I have to say in terms of overall context, it has to be Kusal Mendis' 176. Scored 50% of their 2nd innings total, came in at 6-2, came in trailing by 80 runs, facing an attack of Lyon, Hazelwood, Marsh, O' Keefe, and of course Mitchell Starc at his red-ball best. His team was reduced to 86-4 and the next best score was 42. Only 1 of 2 50's in the ENTIRE match. Gave SL hope single-handingly and allowed them to win the series 3-0 after its worst phase since pre-1996 (still going through it).
 
Another great knock was AB's 91 vs purple patch Johnson.

I'm sure many of you remember the incredible run Johnson had over that period and AB seemed to be the only guy able to stand up to Johnson in that form. Arguably the greatest South African test team ever crumbled in front of Johnson that match. AB, however, scored 91 and 48. The closest a team mate could get was 35 (Amla).

Say what you will about AB's test career, that day explained all I'd like to know. In fact, Johnson later said "AB de Villiers, he's one outstanding player of our generation," Johnson told Inside Cricket. "He was always so difficult to get out and a huge challenge...".
 
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Ozymandiasza said:
Another great knock was AB's 91 vs purple patch Johnson.

I'm sure many of you remember the incredible run Johnson had over that period and AB seemed to be the only guy able to stand up to Johnson in that form. Arguably the greatest South African test team ever crumbled in front of Johnson that match. AB, however, scored 91 and 48. The closest a team mate could get was 35 (Amla).

Say what you will about AB's test career, that day explained all I'd like to know. In fact, Johnson later said "AB de Villiers, he's one outstanding player of our generation," Johnson told Inside Cricket. "He was always so difficult to get out and a huge challenge...".
Click to expand...

TRUE. But that had an aging Kallis and on-his-last-legs Smith.
 
Shakib's double hundred against New Zealand is easily one of the best knocks in recent past.
 
Clarke 161 vs South Africa
Shai Hope century at Headingley in the run chase
Kohli 153 in SA
Younis Khan 218 vs England.
 
Kausal knock was special consdering the situation and his age.
Kohli 53 and Yunus 218.Have not seen the rest so cant comment.
 
Kamran Akmal - 1st Innings Karachi test 2006 - Better than any test hundred by Kohli #justsaying [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] :)
 
Younis' century against SL in 4th innings to win. Kohli's 50 in SA in 3rd test, Shafiq's century in AUS chasing that mammoth total
 
Kohli's twin hundreds in Adelaide after taking a ball to the head first up.
 
Ozymandiasza said:
Another great knock was AB's 91 vs purple patch Johnson.

I'm sure many of you remember the incredible run Johnson had over that period and AB seemed to be the only guy able to stand up to Johnson in that form. Arguably the greatest South African test team ever crumbled in front of Johnson that match. AB, however, scored 91 and 48. The closest a team mate could get was 35 (Amla).

Say what you will about AB's test career, that day explained all I'd like to know. In fact, Johnson later said "AB de Villiers, he's one outstanding player of our generation," Johnson told Inside Cricket. "He was always so difficult to get out and a huge challenge...".
Click to expand...

ABD is criminally under rated these days.
 
Hashim Amla has played some of the iconic innings of this decade. His 300 in England, 250 in India and 190 in Australia are well known but he also scored twin hundreds on an extremely tough pitch in India, another ton against Australia in that 47 all-out match and a 120 at a SR of 70+ against peak Johnson.

KP is another who has played fantastic innings. His centuries against South Africa, and in Sri Lanka and India during the 2012-2013 season were all fantastic.

Khan has also been memorable with a double century in England, a 170 in a fourth innings chase against Herath and a ton against peak South Africa in South Africa.

For me, a great innings has to definitely or nearly do any one of the following three things:

1) heavily contribute to the team win (be a significant score).
2) contribute to a favourable draw where a win was out of the question.
3) be scored in tough conditions or against a great attack, regardless of result.

This is only a guide. As with most things, there are always exceptions.
 
Rayyman said:
Don't want to throw him under the bus, but it's pretty much Mamoon's fault calling him chicken-hearted or something of that sort.
Click to expand...

To be honest ABD did not do himself any favor by skipping out of England test series. He was being called chicken hearted even before he skipped England tour, due to some of the comments he made throughout his career.

That's mostly for tests though. ABD's ODI career is as good as it gets. Not even ABD can bring his stature down in ODIs with controversial comments
 
Greatest innings of the last 10 years has not been mentioned yet:

Michael Clarke 151 vs SA, Capetown 2011. Greentop wicket, against no.1 bowling attack, and he just kept attacking... incredible mind blowing batting.
 
Cuts_and_cuts_hard said:
Greatest innings of the last 10 years has not been mentioned yet:

Michael Clarke 151 vs SA, Capetown 2011. Greentop wicket, against no.1 bowling attack, and he just kept attacking... incredible mind blowing batting.
Click to expand...

That was terrific inning against Steyn, who tried to get all over him when he came to bat first up.

Probably his best, better than 161 he scored which was very gutsy because he got hit so many times when Morkel was bowling bouncers after another from round the wickets but the pitch was a flat one.
 
Ozymandiasza said:
Another great knock was AB's 91 vs purple patch Johnson.

I'm sure many of you remember the incredible run Johnson had over that period and AB seemed to be the only guy able to stand up to Johnson in that form. Arguably the greatest South African test team ever crumbled in front of Johnson that match. AB, however, scored 91 and 48. The closest a team mate could get was 35 (Amla).

Say what you will about AB's test career, that day explained all I'd like to know. In fact, Johnson later said "AB de Villiers, he's one outstanding player of our generation," Johnson told Inside Cricket. "He was always so difficult to get out and a huge challenge...".
Click to expand...

That one and his 33(220) at Adelaide were great innings, but unfortunately not ATG.

If he remained unbeaten at Adelaide like Faf, it would have been an ATG knock too. But still he batted for 68 overs in that inning and scored only 33(an un-ABesque inning).

His inning in last test was an ATG one IMO, right up there with KP 149 at Headingley and Clarke 151 at Capetown.
 
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When considering the quality of bowling,I think that AB's 92 may be the best in recent time because of the pure brutality of Mitchell Johnson who had the most brutal fast bowling form in recent time.I think that form can be compared with any genuine fast bowler form of any era.It was relentless and batsman of this era had no competence to counter that type of form.
AB had so much time to play Johnson seemed like he was batting in slow motion.
I was at the ground when Kusal Mendis went through that innings of 176.It was pure astonishment and fun of seeing such a clean hitting.
 
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