Ian Botham, 149no v Australia, Headingley 1981
The stuff of legend. With England in dire straits and struggling to avoid an innings defeat, Botham’s counterattack, with nothing to lose, turned not only the match on its head but the series. His runs came from 148 balls, giving England a lead and a glimmer. Bob Willis did the rest.
Ben Stokes, 258 v South Africa, Cape Town 2016
England were in trouble at 167 for four when Stokes came to the crease, for a hat-trick ball. By the time he left, run out, the scoreboard read 622 for six and Stokes had hit 30 fours and 11 sixes, an England record. At Lord’s last summer he made the second fastest Test century for England and now, at 163 balls, he has the second fastest Test double hundred of all time. His sixth-wicket partnership of 399 with Jonny Bairstow is the highest for that wicket in Tests.
Ben Stokes, 101 v New Zealand, Lord’s 2015
When Stokes reached his second Test century from 85 balls, it was the second fastest ever by an England batsman – and the fastest since Gilbert Jessop’s 76-ball hundred at The Oval in the 1902 Ashes. England had been 134 behind on first innings but the nature of Stokes’s hundred turned the game on its head. England went on to win by 124 runs.
Kevin Pietersen, 158 v Australia, The Oval 2005
The innings that established Pietersen as an extraordinary talent. It was his first Test century and the innings that clinched the Ashes after a 16-year wait. With England needing to bat out the final day, Pietersen, in on a hat-trick and dropped early on, threw caution to the wind after lunch, hooked the fast bowlers thrillingly, and reached his hundred from 124 balls. He faced 187 balls in all, hitting 15 fours and seven sixes.
Marcus Trescothick, 219 v South Africa, The Oval 2003
England, 2-1 down in the four-Test series, needed to win to draw the series. Batting first, South Africa made a competitive 484, which ought to have been sufficient to clinch the series. Instead, Trescothick batted for nine and a half hours, hitting 32 fours and two sixes. By the time he was out, England had a lead, Andrew Flintoff belted 95 as England reached 604. Trescothick’s second-innings 69 from 66 balls helped them to a nine-wicket win.
Kevin Pietersen, 186 v India, Mumbai 2012
England had lost the first Test in Ahmedabad, tortured by spin, and had found the Wankhede Stadium pitch another tailor-made for India‘s spinners. India’s 327 looked a good score but Pietersen, who had struggled in the first match, in partnership with Alastair Cook made a mockery of the conditions, producing an outrageous innings that lasted 233 balls and contained 20 fours and four sixes. England made 413, Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann spun a web of their own, and the visitors went on to win by 10 wickets. It changed the series.
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