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Flintoff?s rare distinction
Flintoff was there at the crease for sometime on every day of the Test, which is a very rare occurrence in Test cricket, writes Rajneesh Gupta.
Andrew Flintoff got a very intriguing record on his name in the Mohali Test that almost went unnoticed. Flintoff had a presence there at the crease for sometime on each and every day of the Test, which is a very rare occurrence in Test cricket.
Flintoff was unbeaten on 4 at the end of first day’s play when rain and bad light allowed only 50.3 overs. He was still unbeaten on 26 at the end of rain-curtailed second day,when only 14.3 overs were bowled in the day.
On the third day he was dismissed on 70 in England’s first innings total of 300. India batted thereafter and were dismissed for 338 on the fourth day after lunch.
A batting collapse against Indian spinners forced Flintoff’s entry to the crease towards the closing stages of the fourth day and he remained unbeaten on 16 at the close of play.
On fifth and final day Flintoff took his score to 51 and was the final England wicket to fall.
The feat of batting on each day of a Test (of at least five days duration) has been achieved only five times before in the history of Test cricket spanning about 135 years and 1788 Tests.
The following table has the details. The result is from the batsman’s perspective.
