OTD| Don Bradman was dismissed for a duck in his last Test, was denied an average of 100

Sir Donald Bradman is arguably one of the best batters who have ever walked the field of cricket and throughout his career, Bradman earned huge respect from the fans as well as cricketing experts all around the globe. He was regarded by many as the greatest cricketer of the 20th century. The batting seemed to be so easy when this Australian batter used to bat, be it on the side game or be it off the side game.

The right-hand batter was the greatest cricket player in the world all through the 1930s and 1940s; Bradman was so superior to everybody else that his comparison with some other batter was useless. In the 1930 series, the right-hand batter scored 974 runs, including an inning of 309 of them at Headingley. The legendary batter also continued to be an absolute force against England in seven Test series as the Australian side only went on to lose only once in these Ashes during the time of 1932–1933. It was only during that time that the English side developed the brutal as well as unfair Bodyline bowling strategy to stop him. But despite this strategy, the star Australian batter averaged 56 in that series. 

The level of his dominance can be gauged by the fact that out of the 80 times when Bradman went onto bat, he scored 29 centuries. It was on this day when the legendary batter needed just four runs in his last Test innings at the Oval to ensure an average of 100. After a hundred-plus opening partnership by the Australian batter and the pitch looking like a batting paradise, all the fans as well as the cricket experts were expecting that the Australian great will definitely end the career with an average of 100.

However, Eric Hollies had another idea as Bradman was clean bowled by an absolutely tempting leg break from Hollies. It was a rare moment but this was the instance which proved he ultimately was a human being. Bradman scored all those runs at a great speed in a manner that confused opponents as well as also spell-bounded the spectators. However, his batting was not that classically beautiful but was something which caught a lot of eyeballs while he used to bat.