The best of Mathew Hayden

There have been only a few players who had both the elegance and power to torment any bowling lineup in this world and Matthew Hayden was one of them. Hayden along with his opening partner Adam Gilchrist created havoc in the opposition’s dressing room. He was tall and powerful and had tons of concentration. On his 44th birthday, EssentiallySports brings you some of his best innings.

1) 380 vs Zimbabwe, Perth 2003

This is exactly how you play a bad host to a team. It was the first test of the 2 match series. Hayden surpassed Lara’s 375 to become the highest scorer in a test innings. He destroyed the Zimbabweans and helped the Aussies reach a mammoth 735 runs. The innings was filled with shots all around the ground. No bowler seemed like taking his wicket as they surrendered to this legend. 735 was good enough for Zimbabwe as they lost the match by an innings and 175 runs.

2) 101 vs South Africa, 2007

This was the much hyped clash of the titans. Australia and RSA were two of the strongest teams of the world cup and the match was much talked about. South Africa chose to field and the destructive opening pair of Hayden and Gilchrist came to the crease. Hayden started playing his shots from the start and battered the RSA bowling lineup. A score of 101 from 68 balls which included 14 fours and 4 sixes made it a no contest as Aussies emerged victorious by 83 runs.

3) 65 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2009

It was the 5th match of IPL 2009 between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore. It was the initial stages of the tournament and a win would have given the much required momentum to both the teams. CSK chose to bat and that decision proved to be a good one as the big man was relentless. He played some typical Hayden shots and some cheeky shots too which we usually don’t see very often coming from his bat. He scored 65 runs from just 35 balls and propelled his team to a huge score. RCB ultimately lost the match by 92 runs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNO1uG2Ywos

4) 181 vs New Zealand, Hamilton 2007

This was a 3 match ODI series just before the world cup. Australia had already lost the series losing the first 2 and were playing for pride in the third. They needed a big score and that’s when the big man stepped up. He was being criticised for not performing, so this was even more special. He smashed 181 from 166 balls which was the highest score by an Australian in ODIs then and took Australia to a mammoth 346. However, Australia still lost the game by 1 wicket courtesy McMillan and McCullum.

5) 203 vs India, Chennai 2001

Harbhajan Singh was on fire and India was high on morale after winning the first match of the test series. Australia chose to bat and needed to score and disrupt the rhythm with which Indian spinners were bowling. But he was the only one successful in doing that as nobody could give him support from the other end. Australia ended on 391 with Hayden scoring 203 for them which included 15 fours and 6 sixes and did what he could to put India under pressure. Australia still lost that match by 2 wickets. Hayden’s 203 was the only positive from the game.