Best Test innings in the last three years?

[ali ray]

There are quite a lot excellent test innings in the last two three year period or so as each innings had its own significance but one of my favorites are:

1- Virat kohli 142 at Adeialade
2- Ben Stokes 258 at Cape town
3- YK 170 at Pallekale
4- Ajinkya Rahane 100 at Lords
5-Asad shafiq 137 at Gabba
6- Kusal Mendis 100 vs Australia
Whats yours?

 

[The_Odd_One]

Bravo's in the UAE

 

[Syed1]

1. Asad Shafiq - Gaba
2. Dwayne Bravo - UAE

 

[Berserk_Marshal_]

Other than the ones already mentioned, I believe Kraigg Brathwaite's 142* and 60* Vs Pakistan in the 3rd Test at Sharjah deserves a shout, held both innings together from start to finish helping WI to a memorable away win against a strong Pakistan side. Certainly worth a mention.

 

[ali ray]

Other than the ones already mentioned, I believe Kraigg Brathwaite's 142* and 60* Vs Pakistan in the 3rd Test at Sharjah deserves a shout, held both innings together from start to finish helping WI to a memorable away win against a strong Pakistan side. Certainly worth a mention.

The same Pakistan side who is crushed by weak NZ side?

 

[JibranAnsari]

joe roots double.

 

[The_Odd_One]

The same Pakistan side who is crushed by weak NZ side?

Get over that NZ loss. Both SA and England were annhilated in India. Australia got destroyed in their own backyard.

 

[Berserk_Marshal_]

The same Pakistan side who is crushed by weak NZ side?

Absolutely, because as it stands today, the place where the match concerned is taking place is of prime importance and for a team as down in the dumps as WI has been for the past decade for so, to be able to do something which even much more established teams like Australia and England haven't been able to do on they past few tours ( winning a test match), certainly deserves due praise.

 

[DRsohail]

yunus 218 at oval..

 

[Buffet]

Most innings are mentioned, I will add two from Duminy here -

Duminy - 144 at Perth

Duminy - 100* at Galle

Not a celebrated played in PP, but his these two knocks were very good. I am sure that some knocks by celebrated players will appear in this thread so I decided to pick from some one who is not talked much here.

 

[Rayyman]

1. Asad Shafiq - Gaba
2. Dwayne Bravo - UAE

Lol at Bravo. This is for Test innings.
Not for a half-century in a meaningless T20 match.

 

[Midwinter13992]

Dinesh Chandimal's knock against India in the 1st test of 2015 tour was special too

 

[street cricketer]

The answer is in my dp.

 

[Syed1]

Lol at Bravo. This is for Test innings.
Not for a half-century in a meaningless T20 match.

1st test Pakistan vs West Indies - Dubai

Dwayn Bravo - 116

 

[Syed1]

I meant to write Darren Bravo

 

[Chief Destroyer]

In no specific order,

Kohli's double
Chandi's counterattack
Darren's bravo innings in the UAE

Honourable mention: Rahane at Lords

 

[Pete Rose]

younis double against england

 

[ali ray]

The answer is in my dp.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA my favourite player along with shafiq

 

[Syed1]

The answer is in my dp.

Yeah Shafiq had a muted celebration after his century

 

[ali ray]

YK match winning hundred at Pallekale was a touch of master class and very flawless knock

 

[Yossarian]

Misbah's 56 ball century against Australia. Maybe not the greatest, but boy oh boy, enjoyable!

 

[Fahdi]

Younis's double at the Oval has to be right up there. Also his 170 in SL, a 4th innings wonder.

Kohli's heriocs at Adelaide as well.

Shafiq at the Gabba and Darren Bravo's hundred in the UAE(forgot which ground it was).

JP Duminy's 144 at Perth was also pretty special.

People are forgetting Kumar Sangakara's 200 in New Zealand. Team was in all sorts of trouble.

Really tough to pick just one. Most people are picking innings which are fresh in their memories.

 

[Ozymandiasza]

Clarke's 161* (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/648677.html) in 2014 vs South Africa. Clarke was being repeatedly struck on the arm and body by Morkel. It was something extraordinary. I'll remember that for a long time.

Kallis' 115 (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/648667.html) in his last match against India was something special as well. Only century that match. Just, just made the 3 year cut off

 

[Hasan123]

Clarke 161* Cape Town vs SA in 2014. One of the most gutsiest knocks I have ever seen.
Kohli 141 Adelaide vs Australia 2014
Shafiq 137 Gaba vs Australia in 2016
Bravo 116 Dubai vs Pakistan in 2016
Root 254 Old Trafford in 2016 vs Pakistan
Younis 171 Pallekele vs Sri Lanka 2015
Azhar 139 Birmingham vs England 2016


These are the ones off the top of my head. Might have missed some but these innings were fantastic IMO.

 

[Rayyman]

Azhar 302* is defo better than 139.

 

[Ab Fan]

Nobody seems to have mentioned BMac fastest hundred vs Australia when the chips were down and the side was reeling.

 

[Protea Fan]

Mathews 160 vs England at headingly was prodigious,the inngs came after sri Lanka conceded a 100 plus lead in the first innings and they won the test lately

 

[Asim2Good]

Brendon McCullum's 302 against India

 

[TQ89]

You forgot Kaushal Mendis century (176) in srilanka vs aus test series this year. That was one hell of a counter-attack

 

[nashet]

Rahane at lords was brilliant inning too which lead to away win .

 

[Big Mac]

Nobody seems to have mentioned BMac fastest hundred vs Australia when the chips were down and the side was reeling.

Because it was a pretty spawny innings, lots of edges that evaded fielders in between the stunning shots. It was a great story and a fantastic moment but the innings itself wasn't a top class one.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Because it was a pretty spawny innings, lots of edges that evaded fielders in between the stunning shots. It was a great story and a fantastic moment but the innings itself wasn't a top class one.

I watched the whole innings. There were hardly any egdes, he was middling every ball but playing crazy risky shots. The reason why most dismiss it as another one of McCullum's exciting fireworks but not really a great innings is because when NZ were finally slightly ahead with an opportunity to take control of the game, he perished which triggered an NZ collapse. In the grand scheme of things, Australia won the game so while his knock was highly entertaining and set a world record, it did not have any impact on the result as Australia regained control within the same session he put NZ ahead.

 

[Napa]

Karun Nair's 303* by far... the way he accelerated against a highly rated side to get to his 300 was amazing.

 

[shaz619]

Misbah ul Haq at Lords

[MENTION=865]Big Mac[/MENTION]

 

[msb314]

There are quite a lot excellent test innings in the last two three year period or so as each innings had its own significance but one of my favorites are:

1- Virat kohli 142 at Adeialade
2- Ben Stokes 258 at Cape town
3- YK 170 at Pallekale
4- Ajinkya Rahane 100 at Lords
5-Asad shafiq 137 at Gabba
6- Kusal Mendis 100 vs Australia
Whats yours?

Du Plessis 119 vs India at Johannesburg - got South Africa even closer to a world record chase than Shafiq did at Brisbane or Kohli did at Adelaide...

 

[GenericBrand]

Tamim's 200 against Pak to salvage a draw was also a good innings

 

[Markhor]

Clarke's 161 v South Africa in Cape Town in 2014. Clarke got a fearsome working over from Morkel who was coming around the wicket with a short pitched barrage.

Younis's 218 v England at The Oval. A magnificent knock given the series situation and YK's own struggles on that tour. Out of all YK innings, I'd rate it only second to the 267 in Bangalore in 2005.

Chandimal's 162 v India in Galle in 2015. The reason this pips Mendis's brilliant 176 v Australia is because this was when Sri Lanka were in an even worse position in the Test. They were 192 runs behind India after the 1st innings and languishing on 95-5 in the 2nd innings. A remarkable counterpunch from Chandimal gave Sri Lanka a chance of defending a reasonable total in the 4th innings, which they did thanks to Herath.

 

[Thivagar]

Karun Nair's 303* by far... the way he accelerated against a highly rated side to get to his 300 was amazing.

Rahul also scored a near double century and he didn't almost get out 4 times like Nair did.

 

[Thivagar]

Clarke's 161 v South Africa in Cape Town in 2014. Clarke got a fearsome working over from Morkel who was coming around the wicket with a short pitched barrage.

Younis's 218 v England at The Oval. A magnificent knock given the series situation and YK's own struggles on that tour. Out of all YK innings, I'd rate it only second to the 267 in Bangalore in 2005.

Chandimal's 162 v India in Galle in 2015. The reason this pips Mendis's brilliant 176 v Australia is because this was when Sri Lanka were in an even worse position in the Test. They were 192 runs behind India after the 1st innings and languishing on 95-5 in the 2nd innings. A remarkable counterpunch from Chandimal gave Sri Lanka a chance of defending a reasonable total in the 4th innings, which they did thanks to Herath.

But Kusal Mendis is a 21 year old with only 1 FC century apart from his heroics 176.

 

[Napa]

Rahul also scored a near double century and he didn't almost get out 4 times like Nair did.

If you take out chances, then lots of long innings will have to be excluded.

 

[Markhor]

But Kusal Mendis is a 21 year old with only 1 FC century apart from his heroics 176.

True, well I loved both those innings. There was also Dhananjaya de Silva and Chandimal's hundreds in the 3rd Test vs Australia in Colombo after SRL were 26-5 that deserve a mention.

The big knocks that help a team recover from terrible positions like that always stand out.

 

[Aman]

Has to be Kusal Mendis' innings against Australia.

A young cricketer, who led his team to victory on a difficult wicket against the then number 1 Test side.

If Kohli, AB, Root or a Pakistani had done this, there wouldn't even be a need for this thread.

 

[Aman]

Tamim's 200 against Pak to salvage a draw was also a good innings

Flat wicket.

 

[Aman]

Karun Nair's 303* by far... the way he accelerated against a highly rated side to get to his 300 was amazing.

That wasn't even the best 300 of the last 3 years..

 

[Napa]

That wasn't even the best 300 of the last 3 years..

Not only the best 300 of the last 3 years, but one of the best 300s ever.

1) It provided India with a huge total that put pressure on the English batsmen that they failed to overcome.

2) The acceleration at the end gave India a large lead with enough time remaining to get England out the second time.

Nair's 300 had everything a 300 should have.

 

[Vivek_86]

Clarke's 161 v South Africa in Cape Town in 2014. Clarke got a fearsome working over from Morkel who was coming around the wicket with a short pitched barrage.

Younis's 218 v England at The Oval. A magnificent knock given the series situation and YK's own struggles on that tour. Out of all YK innings, I'd rate it only second to the 267 in Bangalore in 2005.

Chandimal's 162 v India in Galle in 2015. The reason this pips Mendis's brilliant 176 v Australia is because this was when Sri Lanka were in an even worse position in the Test. They were 192 runs behind India after the 1st innings and languishing on 95-5 in the 2nd innings. A remarkable counterpunch from Chandimal gave Sri Lanka a chance of defending a reasonable total in the 4th innings, which they did thanks to Herath.

Problem with Chandimal innings was it was almost reckless like Root's innings in Mumbai test. But the most negative part if it was he had almost 5 lives during that innings. Not catches missed or close shaves. He was caught by close in fielder and third umpire gave not out while everybody else could see clearly it was out. Plumb lbw s were not given. Yes DRS was not used, but that is another matter. We are discussing the quality of an innings.

 

[Aman]

Not only the best 300 of the last 3 years, but one of the best 300s ever.

1) It provided India with a huge total that put pressure on the English batsmen that they failed to overcome.

2) The acceleration at the end gave India a large lead with enough time remaining to get England out the second time.

Nair's 300 had everything a 300 should have.

1) It was a mediocre England side who were mentally already on the flight home.
2) It came on a very flat wicket
3) India were going to always get a lead without it
4) England collapsed to GIVE India victory, any other side would have held on the 100 overs to save the Test on that wicket.

 

[ali ray]

So official ranking

1- Karrig Braithwaite masterclass
2-YK at Pallekale
3-Mathews in England 2014
4-Vk at adelieade
5-Shafiq at Gabba
6-Rahane at Lords
7-Kusal Mendis Master piece against Aussies
8- Ben Stokes counter attack
9- Yk at Oval
10- Joe root at old traffod
11- Azhar ali at Sharjah 4th innings
12- Jp Duminy at Perth
13- BAz fastest century
14- Micheal clarke counter attack
15- Kane williamson at Sharjah

 

[Napa]

So official ranking

1- Karrig Braithwaite masterclass
...

I assume these are by some self-appointed or imaginary officials?

 

[ali ray]

I assume these are by some self-appointed or imaginary officials?

In my view it is ok ranking

 

[Pantani]

Kusal Mendis' 176 was extraordinary, the best innings of this year, closely followed by Shafiq's 137 and Nair's triple hundred

 

[Orange Tree]

KN's 300. As soon as he scored his maiden 100, he entered into a completely different zone. I haven't seen anyone to bat so fluently In recent past. It was indeed an epic knock.

 

[Bilal7]

Amla's 196 at Perth, 2013. One of the best attacking innings I've had the pleasure of seeing and unlike some of the other ones mentioned here, his masterclass ensured that South Africa would not only win the match, but also the series and consolidate their #1 ranking.

Shafiq's most recent epic is the best innings by any Asian batsman in the last three years. One of the best fourth innings knock of all time.

 

[soso_killer]

Most innings are mentioned, I will add two from Duminy here -

Duminy - 144 at Perth

Duminy - 100* at Galle

Not a celebrated played in PP, but his these two knocks were very good. I am sure that some knocks by celebrated players will appear in this thread so I decided to pick from some one who is not talked much here.

yeah, he has a neck of scoring crucial runs.
I don't know why a meaningless 142 from a flat deck keeps on being heralded here above match winning performances.