On this day in 2003: Stephen Fleming smashes a double-ton in Sri Lanka

It was on April 26, 2003 when veteran and former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming registered his highest individual score in Test cricket. To note, Fleming achieved the record against Sri Lanka during the first Test of the two-match series.

New Zealand opted to bat after winning the toss. The former skipper did not have to wait much to come out at the crease as batter Matt Horne was scalped by Prabath Nissanka in the tenth over of the match for just four runs. Fleming was then joined by Mark Richardson and Scott Styris as the visitors continued to dominate the game.

The left-handed batter went on to play an excellent unbeaten knock of 274 runs including 28 fours and one six. With this batting effort, the Kiwis posted a total of 515/7. The hosts gave a good reply to the visitors as they went on to score 483 runs massively with the help of Hashan Tillakaratne’s knock of 144 runs. During the second innings, the veteran batter played another gem of a knock, scoring an unbeaten 69 runs as the match ended as a draw.

Talking about Fleming’s numbers in international cricket for New Zealand, the left-handed batter featured in 111 Tests. He amassed 7172 runs in Test cricket, including nine centuries and 46 half-centuries. In the 50-over format, Fleming amassed 8,037 runs with the help of eight centuries and 49 half-centuries.

Currently, Fleming is serving as the coach of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise and the defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The classy batter has also played ten matches in the IPL, representing the Yellow Army. He scored 196 runs at an average of 21.78 in his IPL career.