This Top 5 Best innings article that I am about to write is about the captain of the most destructive and dangerous team in international cricket history and this batter is among the only 2 captains who have won the ODI World Cup twice as a captain. He was a great left arm batter and he commanded the respect of all of his teammates who were superstars in themselves. I am talking about the great Clive Lloyd and although u did not get the chance to see him play live , still this is a small tribute to him and we will talk about his international record down below.
Clive Lloyd played both formats of the game and he was great in both of them but his record in test cricket is impressive. He has played 110 Test Matches for West Indies and has scored 7515 runs at a very good average of 46.68 and he has scored 19 Test hundreds and 1 Double Hundred as well. In the ODI format he played 87 ODIs for West Indies and he scored 1977 runs with a highest score of 102 and he got these runs at a healthy average of 39.54. So, let’s take a look at the 5 best innings of Clive Lloyd.
242* vs India (1975)
His highest test score of 242* came against India in the year 1975 when the West Indies were the bosses of the cricketing world and no one could touch them. In this test match West Indies batted first and Clive Lloyd came into bat at number 4 in this innings and from the moment he came out it was all over for India because he was in no mood to get out and the fabled Indian bowling attack could not get him out and with 19 fours and 4 big sixes he scored a mammoth 242* and West Indies won the match by 201 runs in the end. It was the best innings in the career of Clive Lloyd.
178 vs Australia (1973)
Although this is a test match that the West Indies lost by 10 wickets at the end but that does not diminish the efforts of Clive Lloyd in the first innings where he was the only one who scored over 60 runs in that innings so we can imagine the level of innings that he played that day against a top quality attack. He came at number 4 and got into it and counter attacked the bowling attack and got quick runs and in the process got his hundred and eventually got out at 178 but with the help of 24 fours and 1 six in this Innings he single handedly brought West Indies back in this test match. A one man show for the West Indies.
132 vs England (1973)
The year 1973 was very kind to Clive Lloyd as he was scoring a lot of Test hundreds and this one resulted in a win for the West Indies as other batters also contributed against England. Clive Lloyd was in an aggressive mood in this innings as he scored at a strike rate of 67.35 in this innings and he hit 15 fours and 2 sixes which means 72 runs from his bat cane via boundaries and he has set the stage for a West Indies win by 158 runs. He was consistently proving how good he was.
157 vs Pakistan (1977)
The year was 1977 and this time the opponents were Pakistan and this test match was evenly poised as Pakistan made a well made 435 in the first innings and West Indies had to respond and they made 421 in reply but the main catalyst in them getting to this score was Clive Lloyd who was yet again the only batter from West Indies to cross the 60 run mark in this innings and he played in typical Clive Lloyd fashion and the match was drawn but Clive Lloyd established himself as the core of the West Indies team.
102 vs Australia (1975)
The only ODI innings in my list is one that probably was the most important in his career as it came in the final of the first ever ODI World Cup in 1975 and West Indies were batting first and none of the other batters were able to get nog scores and then comes the captain Clive Lloyd St number 5 and he immediately starts smashing the ball to all parts and took apart the Aussie bowling attack which had Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson. He hit 12 fours and 2 massive sixes and in only 85 balls he scored 102 and allowed West Indies to post a big total of 291 on the board and in the end they won the final by 17 runs and were the first World Champions in ODI cricket.
Also Read: Top 5 Best Graeme Smith Innings
