Top 10 match-saving knocks

#6 Dennis Amiss

262* (563) in 570 Minutes at Kingston, 1974

One of the rare third innings appearances. England chose to bat and sauntered to 353 on the back of a couple of half centuries. In reply, the legendary West Indians piled on the agony with 583 runs on the board.

A deficit of 230 was always going to be a difficult proposition and when the legendary Boycott got out early, a defeat looked eminent. However, Dennis Amiss waged a lonely battle and a good one at that, too. By the time he was done, he had spent 183 overs, nine and a half hours and 563 balls for his 262*.

The most notable aspect of his achievement was the fact that apart from playing the best bowlers in the business, the pitch was so difficult to bat on that no other batsman managed to score above 40 and only tailender Chris Old managed to survive a 100 balls.

Interesting fact: During the 70s, England had a fast bowler by the name of Christopher Old and wickets were kept by Alan Knott. So every time Chris Old had the batsman edge behind, the scorecard poetically read “Caught Knott Bowled Old”. Shakespeare, anyone?