Top 5 Test batting performances from the first half of 2015

The first half of 2015 is done and dusted with Sri Lanka’s clinical win over Pakistan. With the World Cup and New Zealand’s exuberance in it dominating headlines in the first quarter of the year, Test cricket had taken a backseat. Only 15 Tests have been played over the last 6 months, 6 of them by West Indies and one a rain-marred India-Bangladesh clash. The second half of the year promises to be much more delectable with the Ashes, Ind-SA, Aus-NZ, Eng-SA, Eng-Pak, Ind-SL lined up.The contest between bat and ball has been a relatively even one, with the needle perhaps slightly inclined towards the bat. Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Joe Root have had extended purple patches. Alastair Cook looks to be getting back to his prodding best, whilst the likes of BJ Watling, Jermaine Blackwood, Azhar Ali, and Asad Shafiq have grown in stature. At the other end of the spectrum, Yasir Shah has thrilled with his leg spin, Starc and Hazlewood have announced themselves in style before the Ashes, and Trent Boult, Jerome Taylor, Ravi Ashwin have dazzled in patches.There have been many instances of individual batting brilliance which have not just enthralled fans and critics alike but have also been important in the context of the game. Taking into account multiple factors (including, but not limited to, Quality of opposition / bowling, Pitch, Home/Away, Match situation, quality of partners etc.), these are the five best Test innings of the first half of 2015:Honorable Mentions – Tamim Iqbal’s 206 against Pakistan and Virat Kohli’s 147 against Australia were both pristine, counter-attacking innings of substance which helped their teams draw the matches against better bowling attacks. Steve Smith’s belligerent 199 against West Indies chartered a huge win for the Aussies, and was spectacular to watch, albeit against a weak bowling attack.

#1 Kane Williamson 242* (NZ vs SL, 2nd Test Basin Reserve, Wellington)

Kane Williamson applauded by Kumar Sangakkara as he walks off the field at the end of Day 4

New Zealand was playing an exciting brand of cricket. Their aggressive, high-risk style was winning hearts and matches aplenty. The last time they had lost a Test match at home was way back in March, 2012 against the South Africans. Sri Lanka threatened to disturb the equilibrium. Bundling the Kiwis for 221 in their first innings, the Sri Lankan Master, Sangakkara, produced a batting masterclass, notching up 203 for his 11th double ton, helping Sri Lanka to 356 – with a lead of 135 runs.

The Lankans then had the Kiwis on the ropes at 159-5, having a lead of just 24 runs, and a realistic risk of losing an enviable home record. Watling joined Williamson, who was 38*, and they stayed put for the next 112 overs. The twosome blunted everything that was thrown at them. Sri Lanka didn’t do many favours to themselves as they snaffled multiple chances of Williamson’s bat.

Willamson notched up his first double ton, and with some assistance from Watling, helped his team go from a disastrous 24-5 to a match-winning lead of 389. New Zealand won the match by a comfortable margin of 193 runs.

The startlingly docile pitch, uninspired fielding, and BJ Watling’s doggedness helped Kane overcome a tenacious effort from the Lankan bowlers. A 2nd innings double ton to get the team out of a sticky spot, and being involved in a world record 6th wicket partnership earns this innings a place among the top 5.

#2 Ben Stokes 101 (ENG vs NZ, 1st Test Lords)

Ben Stokes and Alastair Cook

Years down the line, people will probably remember this as the “Ben Stokes Test Match”. Before this match, Stokes wasn’t someone who inspired much confidence in the English cricketing fraternity, his numbers complementing that belief. Now, even if he chooses to call it a day or is dropped after a prolonged failure, the cricketing minstrels will still remember him and write songs on his superlative all-round heroics in this Test.

England commenced their 2nd innings of the Test, 134 runs behind. Cook manufactured his way to a ton and was ably supported by Joe Root. Matt Henry bounced Root, and England were effectively 98-4, and in an iffy position. Ben Stokes walked in, and the next 25 overs/100 odd minutes turned the match upside down. Stokes was disdainful, brash, and insolent in his batting. It was everything that the quantitatively inclined English Cricket wouldn’t have stood for earlier. The audacity with which he went about this innings hadn’t been seen in English whites since KP’s belligerence.

Stokes was dismissed with the score at 364-5, a lead of 230. More than the numbers, Stokes beat NZ at their own game. His high-risk, high-reward method paid off with interest, and led England to victory against one of the best NZ sides to have toured the country. It would be criminal to not acknowledge Cook’s understated innings of 162, but it was Stokes’ manhandling of the Kiwi attack that turned the needle significantly towards an English win.

Add to that a 92 in the first innings, and 3-38 with the ball in the 2nd innings, Stokes had owned New Zealand in this Test match. But match situation, opposition bowling quality, and the sheer effrontery of the innings counted, the 101, in specific, deserves a place among the cream.

#3 Jason Holder 103* (WI vs ENG, 1st Test Antigua)

Jason Holder and Kemar Roach

West Indies were set a target of 438 by England, in 4 sessions, to win the Test match. James Anderson was on the brink of becoming the first English bowler with 400 Test wickets, and England were hoping to make the occasion a special one in more than one way. With West Indies’ lacklustre Test record off late, it seemed like a matter of time. And then stepped up the West Indies ODI captain.

Coming into the crease at 189-6, with just Ramdin and the tail left for company, Holder embarked on an innings which made the fans believe. Belief on not just the match being saved, but that West Indies Cricket was in the right pair of young hands. Holder was tight in his defence, assured in his shot-making. More importantly, it was his willingness to soak the pressure of the responsibility of guiding his team to safety. Standing tall (literally and figuratively) against two bowlers with over 600 International Test wickets on a fifth day pitch, Holder showed remarkable composure en route his 149-ball vigil.

Supported by Ramdin and Kemar Roach, Holder waded the West Indies towards safety as they managed to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat. Jason Holder churned up an innings of immense maturity and excellence. A fifth day pitch, match situation, and quality of bowling opposition ensures that Holder’s vigil earns a spot among the top 5.

#4 Adam Voges 130* (AUS vs WI, 1st Test Dominica)

Adam Voges reacts on becoming the oldest Test debut centurion

A Test match cap is special for any player. A Test match ton on debut, even more so. How about the Test match debut coming at 35 years of age, with the team in danger of being bundled out for a sub-par score? Adam Voges lived that dream. Voges was a part of the touring squad owing to his immaculate form in the Sheffield Shield, with more than 1300 runs in 11 outings. He was drafted into the playing XI only because of a concussion to Chris Rogers, who was hit on his head in a net session.

Voges walked into the crease at 61-3 and saw his team slip to 126-6 and 178-8, with a lead of just 30 runs over the West Indies. With just Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood for company, Voges scrambled his way towards a workmanlike century and helped Australia reach a commanding total of 318, with a lead of 170 runs. His patient knock and expert shepherding of the tail seemed effortless. The years of experience and tons of runs he has accumulated in the domestic league seemed to be hemming the broken match for Australia.

The pitch was tricky and Devendra Bishoo was in the midst of a threatening spell. Add to that the match situation and quality of his partners, this innings definitely warrants a place in the upper echelon.

#5 Asad Shafiq 131 (PAK vs SL, 1st Test Galle)

Pakistan cricketers Zulfiqar Babar (L) and Asad Shafiq (C) run between wickets

Sri Lanka vs Pakistan has been one of the most underrated rivalries in recent years. Their contests have almost always been unpredictable and closely fought. This Test was progressing along similar lines. Sri Lanka made 300 in the first innings and reduced Pakistan to 86-4, when Shafiq arrived at the crease. The captain was dismissed soon after. 96-5 and on shaky ground, Asad Shafiq was joined by Sarfaraz Ahmed.

While Sarfaraz Ahmed played a “Ben Stokes” like innings, Shafiq accumulated his runs with discipline and poise. When Sarfaraz was dismissed for 96, Pakistan were still 65 behind. Shafiq continued his accumulation in the company of Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, and Zulfiqar Babar. And, by the time he was the last man dismissed for 131, Pakistan had hacked away to a lead of 117, which turned out to be a match-winning one.

The innings was immensely mature, patient, and workmanlike with just 5 hits to the fence. He seldom deployed an unceremonious hack or slog, and resisted the temptation of matching up to the more in-vogue innings of Sarfaraz and Babar. Nullifying the threat of the Lankan spinners at home, and playing the majority of the innings with the bottom 5 batsmen, Shafiq’s vigil at the crease merits a spot in the Top 5.