Greatest Test innings on green pitches?

[Statsman]

Rahane scored an admirable 103 on a green Lord's pitch in his first outing to England.

Which are the greatest test innings played on green pitches? onting

 

[miandadrules]

Shoaib Malik's 168 at headingley instantly comes to mind.

 

[WrexEverything]

Off the top of my head:

Michael Clarke 151 vs SA in Capetown 2011
Steve Waugh 63* in Trinidad 1995
Dravid's 76 in NZ in 2002 vs Bond at his peak
VVS laxman's 96 in Durban 2010
Sangakkara's 3 hundreds in NZ. The 2 in 2006 vs Bond, and the double hundred this year. All masterpieces.

But the greatest has to be:

Graham Gooch's 154 at Headingley. The pitch was less typically green than some of the others I mentioned, but it seamed a lot and more importantly, the ball swung virtually all throughout the 5 days because of the damp weather. And this was against a bowling lineup of Marshall, Ambrose, Walsh, and Patterson.

 

[trogger]

Steve waugh old trafford 1997 was pretty special, down 1-0 in the series he made two tons on a green deck, without his 108(out of a team total 235) in the first dig we likely hand back the ashes 8 years earlier than history currently records.

 

[Hawkeye]

Malik's 130* in West Indies 1982 against Garner, Marshall and Holding.

 

[IndianWillow]

Amarnath 91 & 80 at Bridgetown on a fast, juicy bouncy pitch against all four feared pacemen - Holding, Roberts, Marshall and Garner. Amarnath made 35% of Indian runs for that test match after receiving several body blows, as other batsmen fell like nine pins around him. Probably the greatest test match knock by an Indian (one of the greatest of all times too) though it came in a losing cause.

 

[Stallion__]

A lot many of them

-) Best of them was Gooch 154 against WI

-) Greenidge Old Trafford 1976

-) Kim Hughes 1981 MCG against WI

-) Kapil PE 1992 (in losing cause though)

-) Asif Iqbal 140+ in 1967 Oval (Pakistan were 65/8 at one stage)

-) SRT 1996 Edgebaston

-) Vengsarkar 1986 Leeds

-) Graeme Pollock 125 1965

-) Yousaf Bridgetown 2000

-) Dujon WACA 1984

-) Bradman 1938 Leeds

-) Trumper vs SA MCG 1910 and Cape Town 1902

-) Azhar Mahmood Durban vs SA

Some on green pitches while other on bouncy pitches, all were great though despite end result of the match

 

[khalil1986]

The Michael Clarke 150 odd was a spectacular innings in South Africa.

 

[WrexEverything]

A lot many of them

-) Best of them was Gooch 154 against WI

-) Greenidge Old Trafford 1976

-) Kim Hughes 1981 MCG against WI

-) Kapil PE 1992 (in losing cause though)

-) Asif Iqbal 140+ in 1967 Oval (Pakistan were 65/8 at one stage)

-) SRT 1996 Edgebaston

-) Vengsarkar 1986 Leeds

-) Graeme Pollock 125 1965

-) Yousaf Bridgetown 2000

-) Dujon WACA 1984

-) Bradman 1938 Leeds

-) Trumper vs SA MCG 1910 and Cape Town 1902

-) Azhar Mahmood Durban vs SA

Some on green pitches while other on bouncy pitches, all were great though despite end result of the match

Great list, especially agree with the Trumper pick. Forgot about him.

But the ones in bold were not greentops if I remember correctly. The one where Hughes got his 100 in 1981 vs WI was an awful, dangerous, pacy pitch with lots of variable bounce. It wasn't really a traditional "greentop".

Similraly, Sachin's 122 in 1996 at Edgbaston was on a pitch with some extremely uneven bounce, but wasn't a green pitch.

They're both ATG innings of course, but not conditions asked in the OP imo.

 

[WrexEverything]

The Michael Clarke 150 odd was a spectacular innings in South Africa.

Best innings I have seen in the last 10 years.

 

[EliteCynical]

Of the ones I have watched,

Mark Waugh 116 vs SA (don't remember the venue, but was a brute of an innings) 1997

Clarke 151 vs SA at Capetown

Dravid 148 at Headingley 2002

Sanga's recent double hundred vs NZ.

I would still rate a hundred against a quality spin attack on a square Turner higher than a hundred on a green top. I feel a hundred on a green top is overrated because of pace and bounce. Could be a lottery at times.

 

[uberkoen]

One that comes to mind is Brain Lara's 153 vs Australia at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados in 1999

One of the most amazing knocks ever to be witnessed in Test Cricket!

West Indies needed 308 to win against a bowling line-up consisting of McGrath, Warne & Gillespie on a deteriorating 4th-innings pitch with wickets falling inconsistently on the other end.

An innings full of bravery & confidence. Never did he ever let the pressure get to him in any stage of the innings.The brute in his shot-making was not only reassuring to watch, but also dominating & scary for the Numero-Uno opposition.

Despite being given a life when on 108, he didn't let the tempo of his innings drop, & ensured his team went over the line in one of the exciting test matches of all time by a knock that is probably the best ever whilst chasing ever in the history of test cricket!

 

[Stallion__]

Great list, especially agree with the Trumper pick. Forgot about him.

But the ones in bold were not greentops if I remember correctly. The one where Hughes got his 100 in 1981 vs WI was an awful, dangerous, pacy pitch with lots of variable bounce. It wasn't really a traditional "greentop".

Similraly, Sachin's 122 in 1996 at Edgbaston was on a pitch with some extremely uneven bounce, but wasn't a green pitch.

They're both ATG innings of course, but not conditions asked in the OP imo.

Yup I know. These two along with Azhar and Dujon innings don't qualify OP's criteria.

Dujon's innings was on extremely bouncy WACA pitch when he got injured during the innings and came back to play this innings.

Rest of the three were two paced pitches, with uneven bounce and extremely tough batting conditions.

But I did mention at the end that not all of them are on green top.

 

[Stallion__]

Of the ones I have watched,

Mark Waugh 116 vs SA (don't remember the venue, but was a brute of an innings) 1997

That Waugh innings although was a great knock, but pitch eased down considerably during 4th day of the match. Secondly SA's best pacer (Pollock) on such surfaces got injured and they were one bowler short in that innings.

I though about that as well but didn't mention because if these reasons.

 

[Stallion__]

Malik's 130* in West Indies 1982 against Garner, Marshall and Holding.

Add his 173 against McGrath, Lee, Gillespie and Warne in 2004 tour on MCG

and 115 against Steyn, Morkel and Philander on first day on Jo'berg pitch on 12/13 tour as well.

Absolutely supreme display of batsmanship. Two of the best I have ever seen.

 

[Madplayer]

Kamran akmal's innings against india

 

[Sunzi]

Athers at Jo'burg 1995 - decent.

 

[junaid.ahmed]

azhar mahmood vs SA at Durban

 

[WrexEverything]

One of my favourite innings on a greentop was Ponting's 78 at Headingley in 2009. Pitch seamed plenty on day1 and England were bowled out for around 100. Ponting came out to a chorus of boos and proceeded to effectively finish the match as a true contest in an hour of brilliant attacking batting. Shame the youtube video got taken down, it was an innings filled with outrageous shots like one or two amazing hooked sixes. By the time he got out, the pitch had flattened out considerably and the rest of the Australian batsman piled on runs easily.

Similar was Dravid's brilliant 148 at Leeds in 2002. Pitch was seaming plenty on day 1 and the constant cloud cover provided plenty of swing all throughout the day. Even though Sachin got 193, and Ganguly scored 130 at almost run a ball on second day when the pitch eased out, Dravid was still given man of the match, which was quite telling. Many people look at the scorecard and say the pitch was flat, so Dravid's innings wasn't that great. But the scorecard will never show how tough it was to bat on day1. Amazing innings.

 

[WrexEverything]

Kamran akmal's innings against india

Good call. That was an awesome innings.

 

[nish_mate]

Broad against Amir & Asif- both werent seen in test whites since then....

 

[WrexEverything]

One that comes to mind is Brain Lara's 153 vs Australia at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados in 1999

One of the most amazing knocks ever to be witnessed in Test Cricket!

West Indies needed 308 to win against a bowling line-up consisting of McGrath, Warne & Gillespie on a deteriorating 4th-innings pitch with wickets falling inconsistently on the other end.

An innings full of bravery & confidence. Never did he ever let the pressure get to him in any stage of the innings.The brute in his shot-making was not only reassuring to watch, but also dominating & scary for the Numero-Uno opposition.

Despite being given a life when on 108, he didn't let the tempo of his innings drop, & ensured his team went over the line in one of the exciting test matches of all time by a knock that is probably the best ever whilst chasing ever in the history of test cricket!

Probably the greatest innings ever but that was a standard day 5 pitch. Nothing out of the ordinary or anything abnormally difficult

 

[Indian_Supporter]

Virat Kohli's 119 vs South Africa in Johannesburg 2013 will be right up there. Green track, both openers back to pavillion, steyn and philander charging in and in comes kohli to play a masterclass innings. A true treat to watch that innings was.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[IndianWillow]

One that comes to mind is Brain Lara's 153 vs Australia at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados in 1999

One of the most amazing knocks ever to be witnessed in Test Cricket!

West Indies needed 308 to win against a bowling line-up consisting of McGrath, Warne & Gillespie on a deteriorating 4th-innings pitch with wickets falling inconsistently on the other end.

An innings full of bravery & confidence. Never did he ever let the pressure get to him in any stage of the innings.The brute in his shot-making was not only reassuring to watch, but also dominating & scary for the Numero-Uno opposition.

Despite being given a life when on 108, he didn't let the tempo of his innings drop, & ensured his team went over the line in one of the exciting test matches of all time by a knock that is probably the best ever whilst chasing ever in the history of test cricket!

Great innings, but not a masterclass on a green or even a difficult pitch. It was a day five wicket on the slower side where you could make runs. The greatness about the innings was the context and pressure absorption, not difficult batting conditions.

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

Cannot say Best but


One of the most elegant, aesthetically pleasing, classical and attacking innings played on a green surface against 2 top pacers of World Cricket operating at 140+ kph.


That was a fine knock by Babar Azam.


Most aesthetically pleasing Test knock by a Pakistani batsman after Umar Akmal's debut ton against New Zealand 9 years ago.

 

[TM Riddle]

Okay now it's pushing it.

 

[Madplayer]

Okay now it's pushing it.

I second you.

 

[Ab Fan]

Babar's inning was kind-off similar to AB de Villiers 65 at Capetown against India but de Villiers did it when things could go either way and stakes were high.

 

[Shandarchowka]

Amazing innings but let's wait until the match is over? The pitch eased out and Babar had nothing to lose (batting with tail).. amazing innings and one of the best by Pakistani batsmen ever for sure. But best ever? Hmm...