On July 27, 1990, Graham Gooch completed one of the finest knocks by an Englishman in Test cricket. The right-hander enthralled the Lord’s crowd as he scored 333 runs off 485 deliveries against India.
India toured England in 1990 for a three-Test series, with the first game played at Lord’s. The visitors were led by Mohammad Azharuddin and their attack comprised of Kapil Dev, Manoj Prabhakar, Ravi Shastri, Sanjeev Sharma and Narendra Hirwani.
Azharuddin won the toss and elected to field first, a decision that proved to be incorrect.
Gooch, leading England in that match, opened the innings with Mike Atherton and went on to play an epic innings. His knock of 333 runs, which included a staggering 43 fours and three sixes, helped his team post a mammoth total of 653/4 declared.
In reply, India managed to not crumble thanks to centuries from Shastri and Azharuddin, but their total of 454 runs was still a long way short.
Gooch then went on to make the match even more memorable by scoring 123 runs off just 113 balls in the second innings. His effort helped England declare at 272 and then bowl India out quickly for 224.
England won that match by 247 runs and that result was enough for them to clinch the series too as the next two matches ended in draws.
Gooch’s 333 remains the joint 13th highest individual score by a batsman in Test cricket. It is also the third highest score by an English cricketer in the longest format – behind Len Hutton’s 364 against Australia in 1938 and Wally Hammond’s 336* against New Zealand in 1933.
Watch highlights of Graham Gooch’s 333 here:
And here is Gooch talking about that epic knock: