Rachin Ravindra breaks 25-year-old record for New Zealand after marvellous double ton vs South Africa

Rachin Ravindra slammed his first Test century during the New Zealand vs South Africa 1st Test 2024 at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. Rachin Ravindra went on to smash a double ton after reaching his century. With his marvelous double ton, the left-handed batsman also broke a long-standing record for New Zealand.

Rachin Ravindra arrived at the crease in NZ vs SA 1st Test at two-down. He smacked 240 runs off 366 deliveries to smash his first Test century. During his innings, the 24-year-old shattered 26 boundaries and 3 sixes.

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Rachin Ravindra smacks top knock as maiden Test century by New Zealand player

Rachin Ravindra registered the record for the highest knock by a New Zealand player during his maiden Test century. For Kiwi player Mathew Sinclair held the record with his 214, which he slammed in 1999.

Sinclair scored the knock in a Test match against West Indies in Wellington. New Zealand also won that game by an innings and 105 runs. However, Ravindra has surpassed him for the record after 25 years.

Notably, Ravindra smacked a double ton in his 4th Test and 7 innings of his career. He made his Test debut in November 2021 and has a batting average of 52+ with 313 runs across 7 innings. He is a batting all-rounder who has become a regular member across all three formats.

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Ravindra-Williamson set 232-run stand

The left-hander also mustered a superb partnership of 232 runs with Kane Williamson for 3rd wicket in NZ vs SA 1st Test. Williamson also hit a century in the match and became the first Kiwi batter to smack 30 centuries in Tests.

Rachin Ravindra and Williamson led New Zealand to a gigantic total of 511-10 in the 1st innings of the Bay Oval Test. Asked to bat first, they lost openers Tom Latham (20) and Devon Conway (1) cheaply. However, the Williamson-Ravindra pair drove the scoreboard to a mountainous total. Later, Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips added 39 and 34 respectively.

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South Africa lose 3 wickets for 30

For South Africa, skipper Neil Brand grabbed a 6-wicket haul. However, most of his victims were tailenders and Kiwis had already done the damage. Ruan de Swardt picked 2 wickets. South Africa had a poor start to the batting, losing 3 wickets with 30 runs on the board.

They lost openers Edward Moore (23) Neil Brand (4) and Raynard van Tonder (0) in a flash. Kyle Jamieson hunted 2 wickets at the start to give a big blow to the Kiwis. Matt Henry got the third wicket. The NZ vs SA Test series will observe two games.