NEWS
OTHER SPORTS
DIARY
PEOPLE
MATCH REPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

When Sinclair was on song

Mohandas Menon

Yesterday, New Zealand batsman Mathew Sinclair scored a double century on debut. Here are some milestones by the 24-year-old batsman on his way to the record.

• at 29*, he bettered the previous highest score by a Kiwi Test debutant against the West Indies which was 28 by Don Beard at Christchurch in 1951-52.

• at 67*, he surpassed the previous highest score by a Kiwi number three on debut, which was 66 by Ross Morgan against Pakistan at Auckland in 1964-65.

• at 94*, he surpassed the previous highest score by a Kiwi right hander on debut, which was 93 by Noel Harford against Pakistan at Lahore in 1955-56.

• at 100*, he became the 44th batsman in Test history to score a hundred on debut in the first innings.

• He becomes the fourth New Zealander after John Mills 117; Rodney Redmond 107 and Bruce Taylor 105, to do so in the first innings. [Mark Greatbatch 107* had also scored a hundred on his debut but in the second innings].

• He also becomes the first right-hander from New Zealand to do so.

•at 110*, he became the highest individual scorer against the West Indies by any Test debutant away from the Caribbean soil bettering the previous highest of 109 by Australian Gary Cosier at Melbourne in 1975-76.

• at 118*, he records the highest individual score by a Kiwi debutant surpassing the 117 by John Mills against England at this same venue in 1929-30.

• at 139*, he surpasses the highest score by a Kiwi batsman at this venue against the West Indies. The previous best was the 138 by John Wright in 1986-87.

• at 148*, he surpasses the highest score by a Kiwi batsman at home against the West Indies. The previous best was the 147 by Geoff Howarth at Christchurch in 1979-80.

• at 164*, he recorded the highest score by a Test debutant against West Indies bettering the previous highest of 163 by South African Andrew Hudson at Bridgetown in 1991-92.

• at 167*, he recorded the highest score by a Kiwi batsman batting at number three against West Indies surpassing the previous highest of 166 not out by Bevan Congdon at Port of Spain, 1971-72.

• at 174*, he recorded the highest score by a left handed batsman batting at number three against West Indies surpassing the previous highest of 173 by Australian Kepler Wessels at Sydney in 1984-85.

• at 187*, he becomes the highest individual scorer for New Zealand batting at number three. The previous highest was the 186 by Andrew Jones against Sri Lanka at this venue in 1990-91.

• at 200*, he became the fourth batsman in Test history to score a double-hundred on debut. The others to do so are England's Reg Foster's 287 against Australia at Sydney in 1903-04; West Indian Lawrence Rowe's 214 against New Zealand at Kingston in 1971-72 and Sri Lanka's Brendon Kuruppu's unbeaten 201 against New Zealand at Colombo (CCC) in 1986-87.

• It was the eighth double-hundred by the seventh New Zealander.

• His 214 was the third highest by any batsman batting at number three against the West Indies after England's Tom Graveney's 258 (at Nottingham, 1957) and Australian Don Bradman's 223 (at Brisbane, 1930-31).

• He equals the highest score by a Test debutant batting at number three. West Indian Lawrence Rowe had recorded a similar score against New Zealand at Kingston in 1971-72.

• Now only England's Reg Foster's 287 against Australia at Sydney in 1903-04 exceeds Rowe's and Sinclair's effort on debut.