The impact of an all-round performance in cricket cannot be emphasized enough. It can completely change the scenario of a match.
And in case it’s from a captain, it gives a great lift to the team’s spirit. Throughout 150 years of Test cricket, there have been a handful of skippers who have managed to perform so brilliantly all-round.
In this article, we will discuss the captains who accomplished the feat of scoring a hundred and taking a five-wicket haul in a single Test match.
Captains to Score 100 and Pick-up Five Wicket Haul in Same Test
1. Denis Atkinson (West Indies) vs Australia – 1955
Denis Atkinson was the first captain in cricket history to do this double in Tests. Actually, he is no other than the only skipper who has scored a double hundred and taken a five-for in the same match.
Besides, Atkinson was not only a good batter down the order. And his best came against Australia when the windies needed it the most.
The Windies were already in the trouble of 143 for 5, after Australia scored a gigantic 668. Then Atkinson came up with his magnificent knock.
He smashed his first-century which turned into a double. His 219 runs contributed to the 510 runs of the Windies.
5 for 56 was Atkinson’s bowling figures which he gave to the Australia in their 2nd innings. His double effort forced the Windies to settle for a draw in the Bridgetown Test.
2. Garry Sobers (West Indies) vs England – 1966
No sooner that was it the Indian twelve months later, or what was best to speak of, in this case, the Star and Sobers. They only had one Leader, and that was Garry Sobers.
The Windies were 2-0 up in the series against England in 1966. The Caribbean team, after the first test match, had no choice but to bat as they were already in a strong position with 500 runs in their first innings.
And it was Sobers who was the main conductor of the batting destruction. He led the innings by scoring 174 runs which made the situation of the Windies get worse as they just lost 4 wickets for the score of 154.
After that, he came back with 5 wickets for 41 runs to finish off the English for 240. In the next inning, Sobers completed his collection of three more victims and trenched the Windies with a 3-0 lead.
3. Mushtaq Mohammad (Pakistan) vs West Indies – 1977
Mushtaq Mohammad was the third skipper to score a century and take a five-wicket haul in a Test. The match in question was among the most stacked in 1977 when the West Indies were at their peak.
Pakistan was 51 for 3 in trouble after being put in to bat. Mohammad came and really played the anchor role to his team’s innings with his very courageous knock of 121 runs which enabled Pakistan to reach 341 at the end of their first innings.
Armed with the confidence of a good innings, the Pakistani captain came forth with an even better spell in his bowling and picked up 5 wickets at a cost of just 28 runs, thereby giving the Windies only 154 to play for.
Then Mohammad contributed 56 and 3 for 69 to write a 266-run victory for Pakistan in the end.
4. Imran Khan (Pakistan) vs India – 1983
Imran Khan was a prodigy of Mohammad six years later. His all-round performance led to a gigantic win for Pakistan over their bitterest rivals India in 1983.
Imran invited the Indian team to take first turn. And then with his magic finger took 6 for 98, rolled back the visitors to 372.
Initially, Pakistan had a very difficult time in their answer. But thanks to Imran’s 117 runs, Pakistan managed to score a total of 652.
After this, he yet again became the hero with the ball. Imran got 5 for 82 and India got bowled out for 286 which set the target of seven runs. Pakistan finished the chase in 13 balls with 10 wickets in hand.
5. Ben Stokes (England) vs India – 2025
Ben Stokes is the newest person on this list. He caused India trouble with his double strike in the Test at Manchester.
Stokes has not bowled much in the past few years because of injury issues. But he chose to forget all worries and went for it.
In the first innings, he bowled out 5 Indian batsmen for 72 runs and thereby limited the guests to 358. Stokes then confronted a no threat Indian bowling line-up.
He once retired at 66 only to come back and finish his century. He ended up scoring 141 which helped England reach 669.
