Matthew Hayden surpasses Lara against Zimbabwe at Perth.

Known as the 'Walking Wizard' , Australian opening batsman Matthew Hayden produced a mammoth knock of 380 against Zimbabwe at Perth. It was in 2003 when the world witnessed the then highest score in Test Cricket as he beat Brian Lara's highest score of 375.

Kevin Pieterson once quoted,

"There is always pressure in test cricket we just need to stick to our toes".

We are aware of the fact that there is always pressure in Test cricket as the match changes session by session. To outplay this unpredictable nature of Test cricket batsmen tend to play defensively. But there are some batsmen who are cannot just stay away from the aggressive and destructive approach like in limited overs cricket. One such player is the Australian legend Matthew Hayden.

Hayden celebrates the knock with team mates in the dressing room. © Getty Images

Heath Streak Zimbabwean captain won the toss and chose to bowl first on the WACA pitch which he thought was perfect for fast bowlers. But the pitch was different and aided batsmen. Hayden opened the innings and played very calmly till tea. His score was 76 until tea on day one. It was in the last session in which the 'Real' Hayden made his presence felt. He started to thwart the bowlers and at the end of the day he was 183 not out.

Image // © Getty Images

Adding 107 runs in the last session, Hayden resumed his innings at 183 on day 2 and unleashed punishing strokes and scored double century very quickly. He was unbeaten on 271 until lunch and he even looked more dangerous as he eyed a triple century. Soon after the lunch break he became the 16th player in the world to record a triple century. His array of shots continued against the helpless bowling attack of Zimbabwe. Not a single ploy worked against Hayden.

Afterwards, he passed the score of 334 which is a magical number in Australian cricket as this is the highest individual score by an Australian batsman jointly held by Sir Don Bradman and Mark Taylor. Hayden hold the record for the highest individual score for an Australian batman. His next target was to break Brain Lara's 375 and become highest individual scorer in Tests. He eventually beat the previous mark of 375 of Lara with a single off Ray Price. He kissed his baggy green and embraced his partner Gilchrist.

Hayden celebrates after breaking Lara's record score of 375. © Getty Images

Later he was dismissed on 380 as Stuart Carlisle took a brilliant catch as he missed scoring 400 runs by a whisker. This phenomenal innings included 38 fours and 11 sixes all around the ground. This epic inning lasted for 438 balls and 622 minutes. He played with a strike rate of 87. Australia scored 735-6 in the first innings.

Australia won the match by an innings as Zimbabwe couldn't even cross Hayden's score of 380 in either of their innings.

Revive the knock here: