Cook in elite club with record 200
COOK BECAME ONLY THE FOURTH ENGLAND PLAYER IN HISTORY TO SMASH TWO DOUBLE CENTURIES IN A SINGLE VENUE.
NEW DELHI: Alastair Cook has plenty of records to his name. The former England skipper is the all-time leading run-scorer for his country in Tests and he has the most centuries to his name. In the ongoing Pink Ball Test against West Indies at Edgbaston, Cook added one more feather in his cap.
Cook, who had slammed a magnificent 150 on Day 1 of the Day-Night Test, continued his magnificent form and notched up his fourth double century in Tests against a hapless West Indies bowling attack. Cook notched up the landmark in the 113th over ofthe innings whenhe edged a full ball from Kemar Roach past gully to third man for a boundary.
HISTORIC
The left-handed batsman raked up several records in the process. Before the start of the match, the Pink Ball Test was already hailed historic as England were hosting a Day-Night Test for the first time. With Cook’s magnificent knock, this Test will be remembered as a record-breaking Test.
Cook became only the fourth England player in history to smash two double centuries in a single venue. Len Hutton, Wally Hammond and David Go we rare the other England players to achieve this feat, with Hutton scoring three centuries at The Oval. Cook had smashed 294 in Edgbaston during the Test against India in 2011 .
Overall, Cook is the 20th player to have achieved the feat of scoring two double centuries in one venue. Sir Don Bradman, Hutton and Kumar Sangakkara top the table with three 200+ scores in Adelaide, The Oval and the SSC venue, respectively. Atapattu and Bradman are the only players to have achieved this feat in two different venues.
Cook’s tally of four double centuries has also put him in an elite list. Among England players, he is joint second on the list. He draws level with Hut ton but is three behind Hammond, who slammed seven 200+ scores.
When it comes to the pink ball Test, Cook is only the second batsman to have hit a 200+ score against an opposition. Pakistan’s Azhar Ali became the first player to score a triple century in the Day-Night Test when he slammed 302* against West Indies in Dubai in 2016.
Brief scores: England 449 for 4 (Alastair Cook batting 213, Joe Root 136, Dawid Malan 65; Kemar Roach 2/86) vs Windies, at lunch on Day 2