Fleming reaches his first
test double century
By Mark Geenty
From the New Zealand Herald, 26 April 2003
COLOMBO - A jubilant Stephen Fleming ended an 11-year
wait for his first double century in first-class cricket
as New Zealand tightened their grip on the first test
against Sri Lanka today.
New Zealand grabbed an early Sri
Lankan wicket to be well in charge of the first cricket
test after an epic Stephen Fleming innings of 274 not
out here today.
Paceman Daryl Tuffey trapped opener
Marvan Atapattu leg before wicket for nought, fifth
ball after New Zealand declared their first innings
on 515 for seven.
With a thunderstorm rolling in,
play was called off early on the second day with the
home side five for one in reply.
Fleming's innings was the second
highest test score by a New Zealander before he surprisingly
declared.
The New Zealand captain closed
the innings after batting seven minutes short of 11
hours, facing 476 balls and hit 28 fours and a six,
20 minutes before stumps.
It left Fleming short of only Martin
Crowe's 299 against Sri Lanka in Wellington 12 years
ago on the all-time New Zealand test innings list, as
he passed Glenn Turner's 259 and Bryan Young's 267 not
out as the only other scores of 250-plus.
Fleming entered the final session
on 221 and looked set to shoot for 300, but he lost
Jacob Oram and Daniel Vettori and opted to give his
bowlers a handful of overs at the Sri Lankan batsmen
before stumps.
The total was New Zealand's ninth
highest total in a test match.
A beaming Fleming, barely able
to walk, said breaking Crowe's record had only briefly
entered his head as he was intent on the side having
a bowl at Sri Lanka late in the day.
"I thought about it, but I would
have needed to take a lot of risks. The way it was going,
as soon as you take a risk you're in a bit more trouble,"
Fleming said.
"I was more than happy with 274,
I was more concentrating on the team score.
"It's great, it's just set up the
test which I'm pleased about more than anything. The
personal side of things will sink in later on tonight,
but at the moment I'm delighted I was able to play a
hand."
Fleming said the team plan worked
to perfection as Scott Styris' 63, Jacob Oram's 33 and
some late boundaries from Paul Wiseman saw the total
nudge over 500.
"I always wanted to score over
500 and have 6-8 overs at them tonight. The guys played
well, I was able to just turn it over from my end and
the other guys were able to score quickly.
"We worked as a team and that's
what I liked about it."
Fleming said a celebratory drink
was out of the question tonight, with the big task to
seal the test win in the next three days.
"It'd probably go straight through
me, half a sip would knock me over. I really want to
win this test, and I'm stuffed, to be honest.
"At the end of the test it'll be
nice to have a quiet beer and reflect, but probably
not tonight."
|
