Australia v Zimbabwe

At Perth, October 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 2003. Australia won by an innings and 175 runs. Toss: Zimbabwe.

Matthew Hayden went to work with a sore back. He wore a heavy vest to keep it warm, and hardly indulged in the sweep shots that have served him so well in the past. Instead he played blissfully, ruthlessly straight. He went to work on a wicket friendlier to batsmen than WACA pitches prepared at the height of summer, after Streak won the toss and invited Australia to bat... and bat. Hayden batted for ten hours and 22 minutes, and - with apologies to Waugh, Martyn and particularly Gilchrist - his innings of 380 must be considered on its own. At the end of it Hayden, this muscle-bound, sun-loving Queenslander, sat in the dressing-room gripping a bottle of beer, wearing whites, baggy green cap and flip-flops; he also sat comfortably in the company of his era's other master batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara.

Hayden played within himself at first. He gave the impression of being on the brink of destroying Zimbabwe's attack, but didn't. Not yet. He was 76 not out at tea on the first day and took 210 balls, and just over five hours, to bring up his hundred. The boundaries were hit hard and mostly straight, but until then Hayden employed caution and restraint. He had spent as much time "surfing, fishing and cooking, like I do" as batting in previous weeks, and now he made an effort to hold himself back.

Then he cut loose. At his most destructive, during the 35 minutes and 32 balls it took him to speed from 100 to 150, he was perfectly still in his stance but swift and brutal when he wielded his bat. He began by despatching Price and Gripper, Zimbabwe's gentle slow bowlers, over the mid-off fence for six, and as he grew bolder would do the same to the fast bowlers.

The cyclonic period before stumps on the first day produced three sixes. By then, Australia were 368 for three and Hayden was 183 not out, his sights firmly trained on the 203 that breathed fresh life into his career at Chennai in 2001. He had no intention of faltering on the verge of a double-century as he did after crushing English spirits at Brisbane in the first Ashes Test a year earlier, but the records were not in focus yet.

That happened early on day two. Hayden dispensed with the vest, as if to show that he had limbered up now, and in due course replaced his helmet with the emblematic olive cap. Streak was not bowling with his usual zing, while line and length periodically escaped Blignaut. Hayden's gesture announced that fast bowlers held no fear for him anyway, and lent a strong sense of history and tradition to what he was about to accomplish.

On his way from 200 to 300, he unleashed five enormous sixes, mistiming some of them, an incredulous Streak noted later. By now a curious calm had come over Hayden. His concentration did not waver until after he had passed the revered Australian number of 334, set by Don Bradman and equalled by Mark Taylor, by sending a floating full toss to the boundary.

At 335, he faltered, but so too did the hapless Gripper, who fumbled a catch at deep mid-wicket and allowed Hayden to cruise on towards Lara's record. After driving to long-off three balls before tea on the second day, Hayden celebrated lustily as he ambled through a single and into territory never before explored by a Test cricketer.

He wheeled his bat in celebration and embraced his batting partner Gilchrist. There was also something reverent about his reaction - especially when he touched the black band wound around his bicep in remembrance of the 88 Australians killed in the Bali terrorist attacks a year earlier.

Three balls after tea Hayden was out, caught by Carlisle at deep backward square leg for 380. His runs came in 437 balls - so quickly that Australia could declare at 735 for six and still have three days and a session in which to bowl Zimbabwe out twice - and contained 11 ruthlessly bludgeoned sixes and 38 fours. By the time Hayden was engulfed by his team-mates as he headed for the WACA dressing-rooms, Zimbabwe were outclassed and out of the match. Ervine was the only bowler to keep things respectable, with the thoughtfully captured wickets of four of Australia's top six, Waugh and Lehmann tricked into spooning up return catches.

The rest of the Test followed an inevitable course, with Zimbabwe bowled out for 239, asked to follow on, and bowled out again for 321. A crushing Australian victory was only ever threatened by the rainstorms that rolled over Perth on the fourth afternoon and fifth morning, as a lingering last-wicket partnership of 74 between Streak and the stubborn Price added to the irritation.

The brittle nature of Zimbabwe's batting was exposed after Gillespie and MacGill broke down, and Lehmann, labouring with an Achilles injury, picked up three for 61 in the second innings with his part-time left-arm spin. Bichel and Lee shared ten wickets between them; Lee was denied a first-innings hat-trick by the unwavering Price, who calmly steered the hat-trick ball wide of a seven-man slip cordon.

Man of the Match: M. L. Hayden