5 best Test performances of Shane Watson

Shane Watson’s Test career remained largely unfulfilledShane Watson called time on his Test career recently – a career that promised so much but in the end remained one which could have been much much more. He had all the traits to go down in history as one of the game’s all-time great all-rounders, but in the end couldn’t manage to achieve that.In the span of his Test career that lasted ten years of his test career, Shane Watson, though sporadically performed exceptionally and managed to lift his team with some brilliant performances throughout his career.So let’s peek into his 5 best Test performances:-

#5 4-42 vs India, Nagpur, 2008

Watson picked up his first wicket haul in a Test against India at Nagpur

Watson bowled one of his most memorable spells in Nagpur against a quality Indian side that featured the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman. He bowled a spell which read 4-42 in 15.4 overs. The spell had the wickets of Murali Vijay, Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra.

It was a spell consisting of immaculate control and precision with the venom of reverse swing. The greatness of his spell can be seen from the fact that Lee and Johnson together managed a solitary wicket between them in their 24 overs in the innings.

With the threat of slow over rate looming over Australia, Watson didn’t bowl immediately after tea and was replaced by Michael Hussey and Cameron White to make up for the lost overs. Had Watson bowled earlier, Australia might have managed a victory on the Indian tour. Three years later, Watson used his reverse swinging skills to help in an epic Australian win at the Galle, Sri Lanka.

#4 95(174) vs England, Perth, 2010

Watson played a gritty knock at the tricky WACA surface

Watson played one of his more gritty innings against England at the WACA, Perth, where the pitch has always been renowned for producing testing conditions for batsmen and this match also turned out to be exactly that.

Batting first, Australia scored 268 runs and in reply, England could only manage 187, thanks to an amazing spell by Mitchell Johnson. Just when Australia needed a strong start from their batsmen to push on for a victory, Watson provided them with the answer.

Watson came out to open the innings and played a knock of 95 with 11 fours. Australia managed to score 309 runs with the help of a superb hundred from Hussey and Australia went on to win the match by a mammoth 267 runs.

#3 176(247) against England

Watson played a mammoth innings against England at the Oval

Shane Watson made his highest Test score of 176 against England at the Oval in 2013. He managed to play a mammoth innings against the likes of Anderson, Broad and Swann and prove his worth as a batsman to his critics around the around.

Often rebuked for not playing big knocks, Watson buckled down and played an innings that lasted over five hours. After some humiliating losses against England, the Aussies needed some inspiration from their top order batsmen and Watson provided exactly that with his innings.

Watson hit 25 fours and a six and defied every English bowler. Ably supported by a hundred from Steven Smith, Watson’s innings helped Australia in posting 492 runs in the first innings. Though the match wasn’t won by the Aussies but they managed to carve out a draw through Watson’s effort.

#2 88(140) vs South Africa, Johannesburg, 2011

Shane Watson’s knock of 88 was a batting masterclass

Shane Watson played one of the best innings of his career at the Wanderers, Johannesburg against South Africa in the 2011/12 season. Batting first, the hosts managed 266 runs and the onus was on the Australian openers to provide the team a good start.

Shane Watson and Phillip Hughes didn’t disappoint and added 174 runs for the first wicket. Watson managed to play out the likes of Steyn, Morkel and Philander on a testing wicket. The importance of this partnership can be seen by the fact that Australia managed just 296 after such a mammoth start.

Often prone to giving up on good starts, Watson played an important innings against South Africa this time around. Australia went on to win the match with two wickets in hand thanks to some useful middle order contributions in the second innings. Watson must be proud of his match winning effort against a quality attack in their own backyard.

#1 5-17 vs South Africa, Capetown, 2011

South Africa single handedly decimated South Africa’s top order

Shane Watson managed to pull off brilliance with his bowling against South Africa in 2011. It was a freakish match in which both the teams got out on scores below 100. South Africa in the end managed to win by 8 wickets but Australia’s loss couldn’t overshadow the brilliance shown by Watson.

Australia batted first and scored 284 runs, thanks to a brilliant hundred by Michael Clarke. When South Africa came out to bat, they would have harboured hopes of a big first innings lead but Watson had other ideas. He managed to pick up 5 wickets for 17 runs in only 5 overs. The five-wicket haul had wickets of Smith, Amla, Kallis, Prince and Boucher and broke the backbone of the South African batting who were bowled out for 96 runs.