West Indies Test skipper, Kraigg Brathwaite, yesterday surpassed the legendary George Headley on the list of centuries by West Indians in the red-ball format.
Braithwaite, playing in his 80th Test chalked up his 11th triple figure score against the number one ranked side, Australia on the penultimate day of the first Test.
The Australian side featured a bowling line up which included the number-one ranked bowler, Pat Cummings along with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
The right-hander, who turned 30-years-old three days ago, sits 16th on the list which is led by Brian Lara (34) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (30). Immediately ahead of Brathwaite are Alvin Kallicharran (12), Carl Hooper (13) and Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Rohan Kanhai and Everton Weekes with 15 centuries each.
“For me, it means everything, as a youngster growing up watching West Indies play, Viv Richards, Desmond Haynes and even Brian Lara coming and playing, coming, you know Australia is a tough place for batting and to do it, it really meant a lot and Australia is number one so this one is obviously right up there and it really meant a lot to me to be honest,” Brathwaite said at the end of the day’s play.
He continued, “For me as the leader, I just want to lead from the front and as the opening batsman it is important to build that foundation so I know once I do that it makes it easy for the other batsmen to come so that is always my focus, to spend as much time as possible.”
The Barbadian also surpassed 5000 runs in the format to become the 13th West Indian to do so. He averages just over 34 with 27 half-centuries also under his belt.
