After talking about one of the best all rounders that English cricket ever saw it's time to talk about perhaps the Top 3 greatest all round player in New Zealand cricket history and that is Chris Cairns . He was the total package as he could score lots of runs for New Zealand and also take a whole lot of Wickets just like Andrew Flintoff did for England. Chris Cairns is going through a tough time health wise and our hope is that he feels better very soon and is back to his best. We will talk about his Records below.
Chris Cairns played international cricket from 1989-2006 and that is almost a 17 year international career and he achieved a lot of success in that time. He played 62 Test Matches for New Zealand and made 3320 test runs at an average of 33.54 with 5 Test hundreds to his name. He also took 218 test wickets at a very good average of 29.40 and he had 13 Five wicket hauls and 1 time he has taken 10 wickets In a test match. In ODIs he played 215 ODIs for New Zealand and scored 4950 ODI runs that means a total of more than 8000 international runs and he hit 4 ODI hundreds and took 201 wickets at an average of 32.81 with Four 5 wicket hauls in ODIs. Let’s look at the Top 5 Best Performances of Chris Cairns.
158 vs South Africa (2004)
This is the best test innings in the career of Chris Cairns and it came against a very good South Africa bowling attack and he came into bat at number 7 and after coming in he absolutely smashed the bowling and in only 171 balls made 158 runs at a strike rate of 92.40 and he hit 16 fours and 7 sixes in that innings which means a total of 106 rums in boundaries and as a result New Zealand won this test match by 9 wickets in the end. This was Brutality at it’s very best by Chris Cairns.
Also Read | Top 5 Best Performances of Shikhar Dhawan
120 vs Zimbabwe (1996)
In 1996 which was 10 years before 20 over cricket was introduced Chris Cairns showed the world what it was like playing an innings which the world would talk about for years to come as this was an innings that is rarely seen in test cricket. He made 120 runs in just 96 balls in the 3rd innings when there was pressure on him and he hit 10 fours and 9 sixes which means 114 runs in boundaries out of 120 runs which is outrageous. It was an innings that had to be included in this list.
Also Read | Viv Richards vs Dennis Lillee Rivalry and Head to Head
7/27 vs West Indies (1999)
This was the best ever bowling performance in the career of Chris Cairns and it came in the 3rz innings of that test match when the match was evenly poised. He had already taken 3 wickets in the 1st innings but in this innings he ran riot and in 22.5 overs of bowling he gave away only 27 rj a and took 7 of the West Indies wickets and it was absolute carnage and West Indies were bowled out for 97 which gave New Zealand a win by 9 wickets in that test match. It remains to this day one of the most outstanding second innings spells of fast bowling.
Also Read | Mitchell starc vs Trent boult stats and comparison
7/53 vs Bangladesh (2001)
This was the second time he had taken 7 uim a test innings and yet again this was in the 3rs innings of this test match and Chris Cairns never allowed Bangladesh to settle down and kept picking up wickets at regular intervals and as a result Bangladesh were Bowled out for 108 and Chris Cairns took 7/53 in 18.2 overs of bowling. It was yet again an inspired showing by the Kiwi.
115 vs India (1999)
This was the best ODI innings of Chris Cairns and it is also our last performance in this list and this was yet again an innings of sheer brutality which he was known for in his cricket. New Zealand were batting first and he came into bat at number 5 and started hitting the ball from ball 1 and he hit 7 fours and 7 sixes in this innings and he only took 80 balls at an astonishing strike rate of 143.75 made these runs and New Zealand won this match by 70 runs.
Also Read: Top 5 Best Performances of Andrew Flintoff
