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Richard Hadlee recently celebrated his 75th birthday and is no more an active part of the cricket circle. However, he is more than actively spoken of even today when it comes to the mention of his outworldly performances on the field of cricket during his playing days. July 10, 1990 marked the last day when Hadlee took the field in internationals and has since been remembered for his sheer greatness.
Playing for New Zealand, Hadlee is well-known for being the first cricketer in the world to reach the landmark of 400 wickets in Test cricket. He represented New Zealand in 86 Test matches, picking up 431 scalps at a terrific strike rate and an unbelievable bowling average. The handy all-rounder also has close to 5000 runs for New Zealand across formats.
Here are the top three bowling performances by Richard Hadlee in Test cricket
During the 1980 tour where the Caribbean side had come to New Zealand for a Test series, Hadlee produced a masterclass of bowling in the series decider clash in Dunedin. In the first innings, Hadlee broke the back of the West Indies unit, getting the better of Gordon Greenidge, Lawrence Rowe, Alvin Kallicharran, Clive Lloyd, and Michael Holding to finish with 5-34 in the first innings.
In the third innings of the Test, Hadlee once again struck gold and produced a memorable spell. This time, Greenidge, Rowe, Lloyd were the repeat victims of Hadlee’s fiery assault. He also accounted for the dismissals of Deryck Murray, Derick Parry and Joel Garner to complete six and a 11-wicket match haul, helping the Kiwis win the match as well as the series.
India had commenced their tour of 1976 against New Zealand with a bang, securing victory in the first Test and managing a draw in the second. The stage was set for the series finale at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. The visitors batted first and posted a below par score of 227, courtesy of Hadlee’s four wickets where he removed the top four – Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Surinder Amarnath and Gundappa Viswanath.
As the second innings came, Hadlee seemed even more charged up and hit the deck hard. Barring Gavaskar, who was absent hurt, Hadlee repeated his breakthroughs from the first innings but also added Mohinder Amarnath and Syed Kirmani to his list of preys. His brilliant spell bundled the Indians out for just 81 as New Zealand won by an innings and 33 runs to draw the series.
Richard Hadlee’s spell of 15 wickets in the Brisbane Test of 1985 against Australia is widely regarded as one of the finest spells with the red ball in the longest format of the game. On a lively deck at the Gabba, Hadlee first produced an exceptional spell, accounting for nine out of ten Aussie batters in the first innings, with his figures reading 9-52.
The legendary pacer followed it up by picking six wickets in the second go against the Australian batting line-up, helping the Kiwis mark a perfect start to the series, as they went 1-0 up with a victory by an innings and 41 runs in this encounter. Overall, Hadlee picked up 15 wickets for 123 runs and also scored a 54 with the bat in the first innings to be adjudged the Player of the Match.
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