Posted by Last week Ian Bell was dismissed for 99 and we wondered whether that was more or less painful than Misbah-ul-Haq being left stranded on 99 not out against the West Indies.
Well, it seems Misbah was wondering the same thing. One Test later, he executed a textbook fatal bat withdrawal and edged to the keeper on the same score.
Misbah has always been King of the Fifty and it would seem that he is hell-bent on maximising his average before retirement without recourse to three figures. This was the third time he has made 99 in a Test match. He also has a 96 and a 97 to his name. It would perhaps be more accurate to brand him King of the Daddy Fifty.
Anyone who has watched him bat won’t be entirely surprised by this tendency. A man who at times boasts an almost tangible air of lack-of-intent, Misbah is not averse to completely renouncing progress during the latter stages of his innings.
He doesn’t so much become becalmed as struck down by a nasty case of rigor mortis. This tendency can transform the short trip from 90 to 100 into an incredibly protracted quest, such that being dismissed in the nineties becomes a statistical probability due to the sheer number of balls he faces.
You could argue that Misbah’s best hope for reaching three figures has been to do so before even he himself has noticed that it’s a possibility – but had this been a regular ploy, it would have greatly devalued one of the all-time great inexplicable innings.
Misbah-ul-Haq will retire from Test cricket after this series and anyone worth knowing will miss him enormously.
I was sure that the link to the inexplicable innings would be this one
http://www.kingcricket.co.uk/misbah-ul-haq-shot-down-in-a-blaze-of-bathos/2011/03/30/
A man of many talents he is
Other end of the scale, but equally magnificent.
Is it true that he is the only man to ever score three 99s in Tests?
I half-read that somewhere but it seems odd.
Feels like it could be true, which is good enough for us.
No-one’s paying us to do research here.
It’s correct. Link http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;orderby=runs;runsmax2=99;runsmin2=99;runsval2=runs;template=results;type=batting
He’s one of four people with three international 99s. Geoff Boycott, Richie Richardson and Sachin Tendulkar (all have two in tests and one in ODIs) are the others.
Alex Hales has come closest to making all format 99s, with one in T20Is, one in ODIs and a Test best of 94. The only other player with a T20I 99 is Luke Wright.
/facting
Marvellous work. Thank you.
Hover caption, which doesn’t seem to be displaying, was obviously “Misbah-ul-Haq is pursued by a hat”.
Doesn’t seem to work for the Getty Images pics for some reason.
Hover over “Embed from Getty Images” on the top left of the photo
One of Ms Barr’s old ones, I presume.
I like the moniker “Ms Barr”.
She ought to be one of Sir Alf Ganguly’s paramours.
Not sure I’m worth knowing, but I am sure I’ll miss him. I wonder what will happen to Pakistan once he stops? I’m guessing an increase in chaos levels. So back to normal…
Misbah’s final gift to the cricketing world.