Stats: Kyle Mayers bags the highest fourth-innings score in Asia
Kyle Mayers #KyleMayers
West Indies created history at Chattogram by recording the highest ever chase in Asia thanks to a double-century on debut by Kyle Mayers. Here are some records that West Indies and Mayers broke during this chase.
0 Previous Instances of teams successfully chasing a target of 395 or more in Asia in the fourth innings of a Test . The previous highest chase was by Sri Lanka when they chased 391 against Zimbabwe in Colombo in 2017. This is only the fifth instance of any visiting team chasing a score in excess of 300 in Asia. This is also the fifth highest chase in the history of Test cricket and second highest for West Indies.
216 Runs added by Nkrumah Bonner and Kyle Mayers in the fourth innings. This is only the second time two debutants have added more than 200 runs in this history of Test cricket. The only pair to have added more runs were Khalid Ibadulla and Abdul Kadir when they added 249 against Australia in Karachi in 1964. It has been 55 years since a pair of debutants added 200 or more. The 216 runs added is also the second highest for any pair in the fourth innings in Asia.
5 Previous instances before Kyle Mayers for a player to score a double-century on his Test debut. Only one other player from West Indies has achieved this feat – Lawrence Rowe when he scored 214 in 1972 against New Zealand. Mayers’ unbeaten 210 was also by far the highest score by a debutant in the fourth innings of a Test. Only eight players have achieved this feat before. The highest score before Mayers belonged to Abbas Ali Baig when he scored 112 against England at Manchester in 1959.
6 Instances of batsmen scoring a double-hundred in the fourth innings of a Test. Mayers joins an elite list of cricketers with this feat. George Headley’s 223 in 1930 against England still remains the highest score in the fourth innings of a Test but Mayers joins Gordon Greenidge as the only other player to score a double in a winning cause. Both players were unbeaten. The unbeaten 210 by Mayers is also the highest fourth innings score in Asia going past the unbeaten 171 by Younis Khan against Sri Lanka in Pallekelle in 2015.
2 Instances of players scoring a double-century batting at any position lower than four in the fourth innings. Nathan Astle’s 222 against England was the only score higher than Mayers’ unbeaten 210. Incidentally, the highest score before Mayers’ for West Indies at No.5 or lower was Brian Lara when he scored an epic unbeaten 153 to help beat Australia at Bridgetown, Barbados in 1999. Since the start of 2019 there have been four instances in which a left-handed batsmen playing at No.5 has helped his team chase a 300-plus score in the fourth innings.
7 Sixes hit by Mayers in his debut innings. Only Tim Southee has hit more sixes than Mayers on debut in Test cricket.
53% Contribution by Mayers in the fourth-innings chase – Third highest contribution for any batsmen in wins chasing 300 or above. Gordon Greenidge and Mark Butcher are the only ones to have contributed more.