Dominating Lord’s – Test double centuries at Lord’s by visiting batsmen

For every visiting player, performing at Lord’s remains at the top of the wishlist. A century at the ‘Mecca of cricket’ earns a place on the honours board and also in a list of legends. Till date, 94 visiting batsmen have scored a century at the Lord’s. Only eight of these 94 batsmen have gone on to score double centuries. On 13th August 1982, Mohsin Khan became the first Pakistani batsman to join this elusive list.

Magnificent Mohsin

Pakistan toured England in 1982 for a 3-match Test series that began at the Edgbaston. England took a 1-0 lead in the series after winning in Birmingham by 113 runs. Later, the two teams faced off at the historic Lord’s. After electing to bat first, the visitors ended up with 295/3 on the first day as their opener Mohsin Khan smashed an unbeaten 159.

Mohsin Khan went on to score a double ton and become the first Asian to do so at the Lord’s. His effort was backed by the fifties from Zaheer Abbas (75) and Mansoor Akhtar (57) as Pakistan declared their first innings at 428/8. England were bundled out for only 227 runs in response and were asked to follow-on. England batted better in their second essay but could only earn a lead of 75 after getting bowled out for 276.

Pakistan chased down the target of 76 runs without losing a wicket. Mohsin Khan spent a total of 495 minutes at the crease scoring 200 off 386 balls in the first innings. In 1982, Mohsin was only the 4th visiting player to score a double century in Test cricket at the Lord’s. Only four players after Mohsin struck double tons in the longer format at the Mecca of Cricket against England.

Other luminaries

Mohsin and his countryman Mohammad Yousuf (in 2006) are the only Asian players with double tons at Lord’s in Test cricket. The first visiting player to score a Test double at the venue was Sir Donald Bradman with a 254-run knock that came in only 341 minutes during the 1930 Ashes Test. Only Graeme Smith managed to surpass Bradman as the South African skipper struck 259 in the 2003 Test match.

Graeme’s knock stands as the 2nd highest individual score at Lord’s in the history of Test cricket. England’s Graham Gooch smashed 333 against India in the 1990 series which is the only Test triple recorded in this format. Steve Smith’s 215 in the 2015 Ashes Test is the last of the 17 double centuries in the longer format at this venue which includes nine by the home team players.

(Stats as on August 12, 2020)