Damien Martyn was one of the most underrated batters in Australian cricket and he is someone who deserves more respect for all the contributions he has made to Australian cricket over the years he has played. He has played 67 Test Matches for Australia as well as 208 ODIs. In the 67 Test Matches he has played he has scored 4406 runs at an average of 46.38. He has made 13 Test Hundreds. In the 208 ODIs that he has played he made 5346 runs at a good average of 40.61 with 5 Hundreds. He scored close to 10,000 international runs in his career.
Let’s look at the Top 5 Best Innings of Damien Martyn
1) 165 vs New Zealand (2005)
This was the highest international score by Damien Martyn in international cricket. It came in 2005 against New Zealand in a test match. Australia were batting first and Damien Martyn played a great innings of 165 from 287 balls. He had a strike rate of 57 in this innings and he hit 24 fours in this innings meaning 96 runs in boundaries. Damien Martyn led Australia to a good score and the match was a draw. Australia were the best team in the world at that time
2) 161 vs Sri Lanka (2004)
This was the Innings that made him a big star at that time. This was a pressure test match and in the second innings Damien Martyn stepped up for Australia. He played a match winning 161 from 349 balls. He had a strike rate of 46 in this high pressure Innings. He hit 21 fours and 1 six in the innings meaning 90 runs came in boundaries. This was an innings full of patience and due to this incredible performance by Damien Martyn, Australia won the test match by 27 runs.
3) 142 vs Pakistan (2004)
The year 2004 was a great year for Damien Martyn in test cricket. He was hitting hundreds against every opponent. This time his opponents were Pakistan who had the next fast bowling attack led by Shoaib Akhter. Damien Martyn was the only Australian batter who hung in there and he made a brilliant 142 from 246 balls. He had a good strike rate of 58 in this innings. He hit 22 fours in this Innings meaning only 48 runs in boundaries. He ran for 94 runs which is amazing. Damien Martyn ensured that Australia win this match by 9 wickets.
4) 133 vs South Africa (2002)
This was a one sided hammering from Australia to South Africa. In this match almost all the Australian Batters made big scores. Damien Martyn also played one of his best test innings as he made 133 from 207 Balls. He has a good strike rate of 64 which was one of his highest in test cricket. He hit 17 fours in this innings meaning 78 runs in boundaries. Damien Martyn was a special player who held the middle order very well along with Adam Gilchrist. Australia won this match by an innings and 360 runs which is one of the biggest defeats in test cricket history
5) 144* vs Zimbabwe (2001)
This was a very close match and the innings by Damien Martyn was the one that made the difference. The amazing thing is all the 5 innings in this list have come against different opponents. This was the highest ODI score by Damien Martyn as he made 144* from 149 balls at a strike rate of 97. He smashed 12 fours in this innings meaning only 48 runs in boundaries. He was so fit that he ran for 96 of his runs. Australia won this match by 1 run.
