Highest fourth-innings score by a player on Test debut

On his Test debut, Kyle Mayers (Barbados) scored 210 not out for the West Indies in the fourth innings of the First Test against Bangladesh at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram (Chittagong), Bangladesh, on 6-7 February 2021. Mayers’ match-winning contribution guided the visitors to an unlikely three-wicket victory in pursuit of a target of 395.

Mayers’ 210 was the fifth-highest score on Test debut but beat the previous highest fourth-innings score by a debutant: India’s Abbas Ali Baig made 112 against England at Old Trafford, Manchester, UK, on 27-28 July 1959, resuming his innings on 85 not out after retiring hurt. His knock was in vain as India lost the match by 171 runs, chasing 548 for victory. The only other fourth-innings hundred by a player on Test debut made in a successful run chase was Yasir Hameed’s 105 for Pakistan against Bangladesh at the National Stadium in Karachi, Pakistan, on 23-24 August 2003, when the hosts chased down a victory target of 217.

Mayers’ knock was the sixth fourth-innings double-hundred in Test match history and the third by a West Indian after Gordon Greenidge (214 not out in July 1984) and top-scorer George Headley (223 in April 1930).

The 216-run partnership between Mayers and Nkrumah Bonner – both debutants for the West Indies – in Chattogram was only the second instance of a 200-run stand between two debutants in Test history, after Pakistan openers Khalid Ibadulla and Abdul Kadir put on 249 against Australia in 1964.