5 batsmen who scored most Test runs before their first double century

Allan Border

Border in action

Matches: 90, Innings: 159, Runs: 6926, Average: 52.46, 100s: 21, Highest: 196

Allan Border was the bulwark which the fledgeling Australian side of the 80s rested on before resurrecting itself as world beaters starting in the early 90s. His importance and stature were never in doubt before he got to his double hundred, for he had offered stoic (and sole) resistance on so many occasions.

It was when a depleted Australian side took on an equally depleted New Zealand team at MCG in 1987, that Border climbed the mountain he got so far up almost 2 years back (196 vs England). Occupying the crease for nearly 10 hours, he scored 205 in a high scoring, but a slow Test match that ended in a draw.