One of the best cricketers to ever play for New Zealand was Nathan Astle. He played for New Zealand at a time when there were not a lot of great batting heroes for New Zealand. Nathan Astle was a proper player who had the perfect technique. He played in 81 Test Matches for New Zealand as well as 223 ODIs. In the 81 Test Matches that he played he scored 4702 runs at an average of 37.02 and he made 11 Test hundreds and a double hundred as well. In the 223 ODIs that he played for New Zealand he made 7090 runs and 15 hundreds for New Zealand. So he has more than 11800 international runs and 26 international hundreds.
Let’s look at the Top 5 Best innings of Nathan Astle
1) 222 vs England (2002)
Even though New Zealand lost this match , this innings by Nathan Astle is one of the all time great test innings for New Zealand. In this innings all the pressure was on him and he played a Blinder . In just 168 balls he made 222 runs at a mind blowing strike rate of 132. He smashed 28 fours and 11 sixes all around the ground meaning a total of 178 runs in boundaries alone. Out of 228 only 50 runs came via non boundaries. Even after all his heroics, New Zealand lost this match by 98 runs.
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2) 156 vs Australia (2001)
This was his second highest test score and it came against Australia at Perth which was the toughest wicket to bat on. Nathan Astle was a special batter but on this day he showed that he was one of the best in the world. He played for 275 balls in this innings and he made 156*. He hit 22 fours and 1 six meaning 94 runs in boundaries. He has a strike rate of 57 in this innings. The test match was a draw because of this innings and the likes of Glenn McGrath Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee, Shane Warne had zero answers.
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3) 114 vs India (1995)
This was his first ODI hundred and this came against India. India were a very good ODI team at that time and Nathan Astle showed all his cisas as he hit his first century in ODIs and it was special. He played 128 balis for his 114 and in this innings he hit 12 fours and 1 six meaning 54 runs in boundaries. He had a strike rate of 88 in this match and due to his hundred , New Zealand won this match by a big margin of 99 runs. This was the start of big things to come.
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4) 145* vs USA (2004)
This was his highest score in ODI cricket and it came against a weaker team like the USA. Still it was a great knock and therefore it deserves to be on this list. He took 151 balls to make 145* and in this innings he hit 13 fours and 6 sixes meaning 88 runs in boundaries. He batted for 25 overs alone and as a result New Zealand beat USA easily by 210 runs. Nathan Astle could score against anybody at any time.
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5) 122* vs England (2002)
New Zealand had restricted England to 218 In this match and they had a target of 219 runs. Nathan Astle again stepped up for New Zealand as he made a match winning 122* from 150 balls. He hit 12 fours and 5 sixes in this outstanding innings meaning 78 runs in boundaries. Nathan Astle was a player whom the New Zealand team relied upon to win them matches. Nathan Astle had a strike rate of 81 in this innings.
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