Why Brian Lara's 153 not out against Australia in 1999 is the greatest test innings ever played

#4. Match situation when Lara arrived at the crease

Both the players were fired up

They played the third match of the series at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados between 26-30 March 1999. Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. After a poor start, Australia posted a formidable total of 490 with the skipper Steve Waugh scoring 199 and Ricky Ponting 104.

In reply, West Indies had a familiar disastrous start. They lost Lara as the fourth wicket with the scorecard reading a paltry 64. Sherwin Campbell and Ridley Jacobs were the only two players offering some fight. They were all out for 329 and trailed Australia by 161.

West Indies veteran fast bowlers Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose had other ideas in Australia’s second innings. Walsh had a wicket off the second ball of the innings, and Australia never recovered from there. They kept losing wickets at the regular interval and were eventually bowled out for 146 giving West Indians a formidable target of 308 runs. Walsh took a five-for with Ambrose and Pedro Collins chipping with two wickets each.

Chasing 308 for victory, West Indies had a reasonable start with openers putting up 72 runs for the first wicket. However, the West Indians lost two quick wickets. Pedro Collins was sent in as a night watchman, but he too perished without troubling the scorers. At the score of 78 for three and still needing 230 more runs for the win, Lara arrived at the crease. Lara and Adrian Griffith saw the end of the fourth day with the score at 85 for three.