5 non-strikers who witnessed their partners' monumental cricket feats

3) Chris Cairns – Nathan Astle’s fastest double hundred

Chris Cairns was at the other end when Astle scored that blistering double hundred

Not often do you get to see someone scoring a double hundred in Tests in around 150 balls. Well, New Zealand batsman Nathan Astle did just that in a Test against England in Christchurch in 2002 by making a double ton in just 153 balls and the record still stands.

Astle went berserk and treated the English bowlers with utter disdain to play one of the breathtaking knocks in the history of Test cricket. Though it came in a losing cause, it gave England a scare they would never forget. And the man who witnessed Astle’s double from the other end was Chris Cairns, who possibly had the ‘best seat’ on the ground that day.

Chasing an improbable 550 in the 4th innings, Astle launched a marauding attack on the English bowlers to score 222 off just 168 balls, hitting 28 fours and 11 towering sixes.

His effort fell short as New Zealand lost that game by 98 runs, but no one could ever forget that monumental effort by Nathan Astle.