Australia’s Steve Waugh hit the last ball of the day for four to complete a brilliant century after becoming only the third player to pass 10,000 Test runs on an emotional second day of the final Ashes match against England on Friday. His unbeaten 102 was his 29th Test century, equalling the late Don Bradman’s Australian record, and helped the home side reach stumps at 237 for five. They are still 125 behind England’s first innings total of 362 but far better off than when skipper Waugh came to the crease with his side on the ropes at 45-3. In one of the most amazing finishes to a day’s cricket, Waugh smashed spinner Richard Dawson through extra cover to go from 98 to 102 and whip the capacity Sydney Cricket Ground into a frenzy. “I don’t think it gets any better than that, scoring a hundred off the last ball in front of your home crowd and playing the way I did today,” Waugh said. “I felt it was my day and it was just meant to happen. “The adrenaline was almost overwhelming and overpowering but I felt I had to get the hundred tonight.” Australia’s cricket-loving Prime Minister John Howard was among the spectators at the ground to witness Waugh’s achievement. “It was a fairytale day for Australian cricket, for Steve and for his family,” Howard said. Test Cricket’s Top 10 Sunil Gavaskar (Ind) — 34 & 125 Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) — 31 & 105 Don Bradman (Aus) — 29 & 52 Steve Waugh (Aus) — 29 & 156 Allan Border (Aus) — 27 & 156 Gary Sobers (WI) — 26 & 93 Greg Chappell (Aus) — 24 & 87 Viv Richards (WI) — 24 & 121 Javed Miandad (Pak) — 23 & 124 Wally Hammond (Eng) — 22 & 85 (Tabulate as Centuries & Tests Played) “I congratulated him personally on a magnificent innings and I know that millions of cricket lovers around Australia would share my feelings.” Waugh’s last-ball boundary meant he equalled Bradman’s Australian centuries record that had stood since 1948 and put him joint third on the on the all-comers’ list headed by Indians Sunil Gavaskar (34) and Sachin Tendulkar (31). Bradman’s son John was also among the first to pay tribute to Waugh. “My dad watched Steve’s career with great admiration and I know he would want me to congratulate him on this wonderful achievement,” he said in a statement. SCOREBOARD England (1st Innings): M.Trescothick c Gilchrist b Bichel 19; M.Vaughan c Gilchrist b Lee 0; M.Butcher b Lee 124; N.Hussain c Gilchrist b Gillespie 75; R.Key lbw Waugh 3; J.Crawley not out 35; A.Stewart b Bichel 71; R.Dawson c Gilchrist b Bichel 2; A.Caddick b MacGill 7; M.Hoggard st Gilchrist b MacGill 0; S.Harmison run out 4; Extras (b6, lb3, nb13): 22; Total: 362 Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-32, 3-198, 4-210, 5-240, 6-332, 7-337, 8-348, 9-350 Bowling: Gillespie 27-10-62-1, Lee 31-9-97-2, Bichel 21-5-86-3, MacGill 44-8-106-2, Waugh 4-3-2-1. Australia (1st Innings): J.Langer c Hoggard b Caddick 25; M.Hayden lbw Caddick 15; R.Ponting c Stewart b Caddick 7; D.Martyn c Caddick b Harmison 26; S.Waugh batting 102; M.Love c Trescothick b Harmison 0; A.Gilchrist batting 45; Extras (b2, lb5, w2, nb8): 17; Total : (for 5 wkts) 237 Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-45, 3-56, 4-146, 5-150 Bowling: Hoggard 13-2-65-0, Caddick 16-3-88-3, Harmison 13-4-44-2, Dawson 9-0-33-0 When he reached 69, Waugh, who is already making his world record-equalling 156th Test appearance, joined fellow Australian Allan Border (11,174) and former Indian captain Gavaskar (10,122) as the only players in Test history to reach 10,000 runs. “People have been writing him off but today he showed what he’s been showing for 17 years and he’s a cricketing legend in my opinion,” England wicketkeeper Alec Stewart said. “To do it on his home ground was perfect. The script was written for him.” Waugh, who was left out of Australia’s side for the upcoming World Cup, produced possibly the finest innings of his 17-year test career to silence his critics once and for all, smashing 18 fours in an innings spanning 176 minutes and 130 balls. (Reuters)
