80 runs:
There's plenty of great 80s to go through here and this is one of the toughest ones so far to pick a winner. A few honourable mentions. Actually, before that, we have to cover this:
Dis-honorable mention aka THE SINGLE WORST 50+ score in test history:
Kevin Pietersen vs Pakistan, 2010: I don't claim to have watched quite as much cricket as some of our older members here on CW, but if any of them can testify that they've seen a worse test innings of 50+ runs, then I'll be very impressed. This 80 from Pietersen was one of the most painful things I've ever watched in my lifetime as a cricket fan, and I watched pre-Bumrah Indian fast bowling. The whole thing was a cluster**** of dreadful hoicks, about a million play and misses, dropped catches (4 actual drops, 5 if you count the thick edge to the keeper, and 6 if you count the ridiculous shot he played after backing away from the ball and deciding to play it at the last second). (
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...nd-vs-pakistan-2nd-test-426414/full-scorecard)
A chunk of it can be seen below from the 30 minute mark. That Pietersen actually had the gall to raise his bat (albeit sheepishly) when walking off after finally being dismissed is unbelievable to me.
Actual Honorable mentions:
Alvin Kallicharan vs England, 1973: Starting off with two 80s by the underrated Kallicharan against a quality English attack, first in a great partnership with Clive Lloyd after walking in at 64-3 and then from 52-3 in the second innings doing enough to take WI to a winning total. Fine effort but we're just getting started. (
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...-vs-west-indies-1st-test-63111/full-scorecard)
Brian Lara vs SL, 2003: A less remembered Lara 4th innings mini-masterpiece, surviving a dangerous Murali spell to ensure a comfortable 4th innings chase in partnership with Sarwan to earn a rare series win. Probably the least convincing he's looked against Murali, who honestly was pretty unlucky not to get him out atleast a couple of times, but played some glorious shots too. (
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...es-vs-sri-lanka-2nd-test-64035/full-scorecard)
There's a hilarious drop at around the 10 minute mark too btw.
Mohinder Amarnath vs WI, 1983: One of the bravest displays of hooking and cutting against hostile pace bowling, against the most fearsome pace quartet in test history. His 91 and 80 in this game earned him man of the match despite being on the side that got thumped by 10 wickets. He'd score 598 runs in the series against Marshall/Holding/Garner/Roberts, more than 300 runs ahead of India\s second highest run-scorer. Probably one of the 5 or so best batting series of all time. (
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...indies-vs-india-4th-test-63338/full-scorecard)
Alan Davidson vs WI, tied test 1961: A legendary innings from a legendary game, where a famous partnership between Davidson and Benaud took Australia from 92-6 to the brink of victory. (
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...-vs-west-indies-1st-test-62888/full-scorecard)
The top 3:
3. Anshuman Gaekwad vs WI, 1975: This is one of the great forgotten innings of Indian history, because it came in the same match as Viswanath's 97, which is still recognized as one of the greatest innings by an Indian. Gaekwad's second innings 80 though, was no less crucial as his partnership with incidentally, Viswanath was what made the difference between victory and defeat. Roberts was on fire, the pitch was unplayable, and the series was on the line which all added to it. Shame India lost the last test after coming back from 0-2 to tie the series though.
(
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...-vs-west-indies-4th-test-63134/full-scorecard)
2. Chris Cairns vs England 1999: The deciding test of a mad series came down to a mad assault from Chris Cairns where his counterpunch rescued NZ from the depths of 39-6 to a winning total. On pure quality and clean-ness of ball striking, its the best innings of not just 80 runs, but probably any sub-100 score. (
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...-vs-new-zealand-4th-test-63844/full-scorecard)
1. Bert Sutcliffe (and Bob Blair) vs SA, 1999: In the end, it was a futile slogathon in a game NZ got smashed in. You could argue every single 80 on this list was a more consequential innings (in cricketing terms) in their respective games. This isn't number 1 for purely its cricketing merit (although the flurry of sixes against Tayfield does sound incredibly cool). It's also here for Sutcliffe batting with a brutal injury, and for giving us this eternally badass image (
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...-vs-new-zealand-2nd-test-62764/full-scorecard)
View attachment 47671
Mainly though, it's here not just for Sutcliffe, but for Bob Blair. Since I made the enormous oversight of not including his 6 run innings previously in this thread, its time to give it its due. Anyone who is aware of the details knows how amazing the story is. I can't really do it justice, I'll just link this great article, it's worth a read.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/beyond-the-call-of-duty-380889
