7 Best grounds for batting

#4) Bourda (West Indies)

Bourda Cricket Ground

After Providence Stadium was built for the 2007 World Cup, Bourda was relegated to simply being a domestic ground in Guyana. But while the ground may have missed out on hosting international games in the modern era, it still saw high-scoring games in its day.

Two of the 11 ODIs it hosted was tied. The first was against Pakistan in 1993, when Carl Hooper's unbeaten 69 ensured the West Indies ended the game level on 244. This was a fairly strong ODI score in the early nineties, but it meant more considering the bowling attacks both sides had - the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh were all in action that day.

The second tied game saw Steve Waugh score 72 off 65 balls. However, the game was only deemed a tie after the fact as a pitch invasion while Shane Warne and Waugh were scurrying for three caused chaos. The West Indies would have almost certainly won by a run, but the stumps were stolen at the end Warne was running to. The result was announced only once the players had left the ground to avoid further tumult.

This was a different type of chaos to what is usually seen at the venue as most often the batsmen were the ones responsible. The average runs per wicket at Bourda is 33.72 in ODIs and 36.22 in Tests, which is the highest of any ground to have hosted at least 30 Tests.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul averages an incredible 126.33 in the seven matches he played at Bourda, while both Garfield Sobers and Richie Richardson have averages in the 90s at the ground.

But it was the 1972 New Zealand side the best displayed the venue's bias towards batsmen. Unlike the West Indies sides of this era, the New Zealanders weren't known for their entertaining cricket. Instead, they would look to grind out draws from stronger opposition. This was a blueprint they followed perfectly in 1972, as their openers, Terrence Jarvis and Glenn Turner, shared a 387-run partnership. Jarvis's 188 came off 555 deliveries and Turner's 259 took him 759 deliveries. Naturally, the match ended in a draw with only 10 wickets falling in the entire Test.