One-man Army: Cricketers with 100-plus runs and 10-plus wickets in a Test
Players taking 10 wickets isn’t a regular site but only a handful are able to back such efforts with batting performances. On quite a few occasions, many have managed to score fifties in the matches where they picked up 10 or more wickets. Till date, only six players have achieved the double of scoring 100-plus runs and claiming 10-plus wickets in a Test match. Two of those six instances came in Women’s cricket and the other four occurred in Men’s cricket.
Here are the instances of players taking 10 or more wickets and scoring 100-plus runs in the same Men’s Test:
1. Alan Davidson vs West Indies, 1960:
Alan Davidson of Australia became the first player to aggregate 100-plus runs and pick up 10-plus wickets in the same Test in Men’s cricket. In the match played against West Indies at Gabba, Davidson picked up five wickets in the first innings and six wickets in the second. With the bat, he scored 41 and 80 runs respectively. The match ended in a tie as Australia lost their last four wickets for six runs starting from Davidson’s runout.
2. Sir Ian Botham vs India, 1980:
In 1980, England’s Sir Ian Botham became the first player in Men’s Test history to score a hundred and bag 10 wickets in the same match. Botham achieved this double during the Test match against India in Mumbai. Botham smashed 114 from only 144 balls and picked up 6/58 and 7/48 respectively as the visitors won the match by 10 wickets. This Test was a one-off event played to mark the Golden Jubilee of BCCI. The 2nd day of the match was a rest day due to a full solar eclipse.
3. Imran Khan vs India, 1983:
Nearly three years after Botham’s feat, the Pakistan skipper Imran Khan replicated the double of a hundred and ten wickets. He achieved it during the 1983 Faisalabad Test against India. Imran was one of the four centurions for Pakistan as he struck a 121-ball 117 with five sixes. Imran took six wickets in the first innings and five more in the second innings as the hosts cruised to a 10-wicket win.
4. Shakib Al Hasan vs Zimbabwe, 2014:
No player in Test cricket scored as many runs as Shakib Al Hasan in the 2014 Khulna Test against Zimbabwe while picking up a 10-wicket match haul. The Bangladesh all-rounder smashed 137 in Bangladesh’s first innings and scored six runs in the second. He picked up five apiece in both innings to help the home team to register a 162-run victory.
(Stats as on August 30, 2020)
