
Former Australia cricketer Greg Chappell is celebrating his 76th birthday on August 7. Known for his elegant stroke play, Chappell was a great force in the Australian batting unit during his time. The right-hander has represented Australia in 87 Tests and 75 ODIs, scoring 7110 and 2331 runs respectively.
Chappell has also contributed significantly to the bowling department. The former cricket coach has taken 47 wickets in Tests and 72 wickets in ODIs with the right-arm medium pace. As one of the Australian greats celebrates his special day, let’s take a look at his best batting performances in the longer format of the game.
Here are Greg Chappell’s top 3 batting performances in Tests:
3. 176 vs NZ, Christchurch, 1982
One of Greg Chappell’s best performances in Test cricket came in the third Test of Australia tour of New Zealand in 1982. On the back of Chappell’s scintillating 176, Australia posted 353 in the first innings. New Zealand, in reply, could score only 149 and failed to avoid follow-on. The Black Caps were restricted to 272, leaving the visitors a target of just 69 runs, which they comfortably chased down with eight wickets to spare.
2. 204 vs Ind, Sydney, 1981
One of Chappell’s four double centuries came in the first Test of the 1981 tour of India. The Men in Blue were bundled out for 201 after opting to bat first in Sydney. In reply, Australia amassed 406 runs and notably, 204 of them came from captain Chappell’s bat. His gritty knock was packed with 27 boundaries. Another interesting fact is that the visitors scored the exact same runs in their second innings, helping the hosts win by an innings and four runs.
1. 182* vs WI, Sydney, 1976
Captain Greg Chappell’s magnificent knock helped Australia win the fourth Test against West Indies in 1976. In reply, the West Indies’ first innings score of 355, Australia accumulated 405, courtesy of Chappell’s unbeaten 182 off 274 balls. In the second innings, the Aussie bowlers bolstered their performance to bowl out the visitors for 128 runs. Australia had to chase down just 79 runs and they did it with the loss of three wickets.
Also read: Ranking Venkatesh Prasad’s top 2 performances in Test Cricket