Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes died on Thursday, three days short of his 26th birthday. Here is a look at five great innings from his career, which had so much more to offer before his life was cut tragically short when he was hit on the head by a cricket ball.
1. MAIDEN TEST CENTURY
In March 2009, Phil Hughes, in the second test match of his career, scored his maiden test century at Kingsmead Cricket Ground in Durban, South Africa. He and Simon Katich put together an opening partnership of 184 runs before Hughes was caught by Neil McKenzie off the bowling of Jacques Kallis.
2. TWO CENTURIES
In the same match, the 20-year-old became the youngest player ever to score two centuries in a test, as he took on the talented South African bowling attack again in his second innings in Durban to reach 160 runs, which would remain the biggest score of his test career. Australia won the test and Hughes was named player of the match.
3. THIRD AND FINAL TEST CENTURY
He scored the third and final test century of his career in a match against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo in September 2011. After being bowled for 0 on the first day, he returned with a second innings score of 126.
4. ONE-DAY HIGHLIGHT
He scored two centuries in one-day international cricket, both against Sri Lanka during the South Asian team’s tour of Australia in January 2013. In the first match in Melbourne, he got 112 runs, but in the next three he was out for just 3, 3 and 1. He recovered his form in the fifth match though, scoring 138 not out in Hobart
5. WORLD RECORD BREAKER
In a July 2013 test match against England at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, Hughes broke a world record with debutant Ashton Agar, as the pair put on 163 runs in a tenth wicket partnership. Agar fell two runs short of becoming the first number 11 to make a test century, and he couldn’t have done it without Hughes at the other end, who finished on 81 not out.
R.I.P PHILLIP HUGHES (1988-2014)
