On This Day: Charles Coventry’s batting masterclass against Bangladesh
16th August 2009 – the day dished out an enthralling encounter for all cricket fans. Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, not really considered as heavyweights, put up a world-class batting display to script one of the best ODI matches of the decade.
It was Bangladesh who emerged victorious at Bulawayo after hunting down the 312-run target. But for Zimbabwe, Charles Coventry had already entered the record books after scoring a brilliant 194*. Electing to bat first in the fourth ODI of the five-match series, hosts Zimbabwe posted a massive 312/8 on the back of Coventry’s record-breaking knock. Coventry managed to register the same score (194) that Saeed Anwar did against India at Chennai in 1997. He also topped the then list of highest run-scorer in a single innings in One-day Internationals.
A Coventry Special
Coventry’s knock eventually went down the drain after Bangladesh hunted down the total, with Tamim Iqbal smashing a pivotal 154. Despite the result, Coventry’s knock had entered the record books. He was standing atop of the pile of batsmen scoring massive knocks in ODIs. Coventry stayed at the top for less than a year as Sachin Tendulkar surpassed his score and became the first batsman to smash a double century in Men’s ODIs.
Coventry achieved the feat after being dropped twice. However, as fate had it, ‘Choppa’ paved his way to script history for Zimbabwe cricket. After amassing his half-century in just 43 deliveries on a flat deck, he took off the helmet and acknowledged the applause. But piling some more runs was still in the back of his head. The right-hander eventually went on to smash his century off 110 deliveries.
There was no looking back for him then as he played with even more freedom, scoring his next 50 in just 27 deliveries. The Bangladesh bowling force was left hapless in front of Coventry’s batting show. In the 46th over, he smashed 16 runs by hitting a couple of sixes and a four. Being on the strike on the last delivery of the innings, Coventry was aiming it big as he was on 192.
Records Galore
Punching the last ball for a couple, he became the joint-highest run-scorer in ODI history along with Saeed Anwar. Coventry was welcomed with a guard of honour as he walked back to his teammates. He had secured a place above Anwar by remaining unbeaten in his 156-ball innings, consisting of 16 fours and 7 sixes.
Coventry didn’t have an amazing ODI career as he went on to represent Zimbabwe in 39 ODIs, scoring runs at a meagre average of 24.4. Shrugging off his career stats, there’s no denial over Coventry’s brilliance on 16th August 2009 at Bulawayo. He had produced one of the finest knocks in the history of one-day internationals.
