446 DELIVERIES, 23 FOURS, 1 SIX
AUSTRALIA V INDIA, 2ND TEST, ADELAIDE, 2003
Australia 556 (Ponting 242; Kumble 5-154) & 196 (Agarkar 6-41) lost to India 523 (Dravid 233, Laxman 148) & 233-6 (Dravid 72*)
OPPOSITION ATTACK: Jason Gillespie, Brad Williams, Stuart MacGill, Andy Bichel, Simon Katich
One of the great Test victories of the century, and dominated by Dravid. First he set it up, compiling this magnum opus spread over 446 balls, and then he finished it, 72 not out on the final day as India, having conceded 556 on first innings, somehow pulled it off. The double hundred was chanceless, save for one top-edged hook that went for six, and his cover-driving, as per usual, was immaculate, hitting 76 runs through the covers across the two innings. In all, Dravid batted for 835 minutes in the match for once out.
Wisden reported that when Dravid cut the final ball of the match to the cover fence, Steve Waugh ran all the way to retrieve it from the gutter, before running back to Dravid and handing it to him. Well, you have to.
