On this day in 2004: West Indies great Brian Lara made history by scoring an unbeaten 400 runs in a Test match against England

West Indies great Brian Lara etched his name in the record books when he smashed 400 not out against England to set the record for the highest individual score in Test cricket on April 12, 2004. Lara sent England fielders on a leather hunt as he hit 43 fours and four sixes during the marathon innings.

Lara thus became the first batter to reclaim the record of the highest individual score as he went past Matthew Hayden's 380 with his superlative knock in St. Lucia. Hayden's 380 against Zimbabwe in 2003 helped him surpass Lara's world record of 375 which was also scored against England at the same venue as his 400, exactly 10 years ago in 1994.

Brian Lara Leads West Indies to Draw in Final Test

The West Indies were down 3-0 in their home Test series against England. As they went into the fourth match, their main goal was to avoid a clean sweep. Playing in Antigua, West Indies captain Brian Lara won the toss and chose to bat first. After opener Daren Ganga got out early, Lara walked out to the middle and teamed up with Chris Gayle to steady the innings.

After Chris Gayle got out for 69 runs, Brian Lara built a massive 230-run partnership with Ramnaresh Sarwan, who unfortunately fell just 10 runs short of a well-deserved century. Later, Ridley Jacobs joined Lara at the crease and gave him solid support until the end of the innings. Jacobs, the wicketkeeper-batter, played a brilliant knock, scoring 107 runs with 8 boundaries and 3 sixes. The West Indies eventually declared their innings at 751 runs for the loss of five wickets.

England had a rough start to their innings, losing their top-order batters quickly. Pedro Collins and Tino Best bowled brilliantly with the new ball, causing a lot of trouble. The two West Indian fast bowlers took seven wickets between them. Andrew Flintoff was the standout for England, scoring a fighting 102 runs, while Mark Butcher added a solid 52.

England were bowled out for just 285 runs in their first innings and had to follow on. In their second innings, captain Michael Vaughan led from the front with a brilliant knock of 140 runs. Marcus Trescothick also batted well, scoring 88 runs, while Nasser Hussain added a solid 56 to help steady the innings.

Butcher once again played a gritty innings of 61 runs while facing 164 deliveries. At the stumps of Day 5, England were at 422/5. With the hard-fought draw, Vaughan and his men won the Test series 3-0.

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