The beginning of the Day-Night Test matches came way back in the late 2000s when viewership of Test matches went down, and ODIs and T20I matches in the evenings got more viewership and attracted a larger TV audience. Research began on how to make day-night Tests possible. There were several experiments with yellow, orange, and pink balls, with an aim for cricketers to spot the ball under floodlights. There were suggestions that cricketers could play with a white ball and wear coloured kits. In 2010, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced Lord's Test against Bangladesh would be a pink ball Test, but their plans failed after the two countries requested Durham and Worcestershire to have a trial with the pink ball in a four-day match, which they refused to do. IND vs AUS 2nd Test 2024 Day 2 Stumps: Travis Head’s Century, Fiery Bowling From Seamers Put Hosts in Driver’s Seat.

The first-ever day-night pink-ball Test was hosted in Adelaide in November 2015. Australia hosted New Zealand, which the host won by three wickets after a low-scoring thriller. After the match, a survey was done where Australian fans revealed that 81% would love to see every Test at Adelaide having an afternoon start. The pink ball became the fixture in the Australian calendar while other cricket boards experimented. However, BCCI refused to play with the pink ball, citing a lack of experience. After having a few trial matches in the Indian domestic season, India hosted its first-ever Test match against Bangladesh in 2019. The historic pink ball Test was held in Kolkata.

So far, every pink-ball Test has had a result, and viewers and fans have loved watching day-night Tests. The main challenge for batters while playing the Day-Night Test is the twilight period. The Twilight period tends to claim many wickets and helps bowlers a lot. Recently, Australia batter Travis Head smashed a brilliant century in the second pink-ball Test against the India national cricket team in Adelaide. Head's magnificent 140-run puts him in the elite list of batters scoring a hundred in pink-ball Test matches. Funny Memes Go Viral After Travis Head Scores Fiery Century Against India During IND vs AUS 2nd Test 2024 at Adelaide.

Batters With Centuries in Pink Ball Test Matches

 

Century No. Player Name Team Opponent Final Score Venue Year
28 Travis Head Australia India 140 Adelaide 2024
27 Tom Blundell New Zealand England 138 Mount Maunganui 2023
26 Travis Head Australia West Indies 114* Adelaide 2022
25 Marnus Labuschagne Australia West Indies 120* Adelaide 2022
24 Dimuth Karunaratne Sri Lanka India 107 Bengaluru 2022
23 Travis Head Australia England 101 Hobart 2022
22 Marnus Labuschagne Australia England 103 Adelaide 2021
21 Marnus Labuschagne Australia New Zealand 143 Perth 2019
20 Yasir Shah Pakistan Australia 113 Adelaide 2019
19 Marnus Labuschagne Australia Pakistan 162 Adelaide 2019
18 David Warner Australia Pakistan 335* Adelaide 2019
17 Virat Kohli India Bangladesh 136 Kolkata 2019
16 Henry Nicholls New Zealand England 145 Auckland 2018
15 Kane Williamson New Zealand England 102 Auckland 2018
14 Aiden Markram South Africa Zimbabwe 125 Gqeberha 2017
13 Shaun Marsh Australia England 126 Adelaide 2017
12 Asad Shafiq Pakistan Sri Lanka 112 Dubai 2017
11 Dimuth Karunaratne Sri Lanka Pakistan 196 Dubai 2017
10 Joe Root England West Indies 136 Birmingham 2017
9 Alastair Cook England West Indies 243 Birmingham 2017
8 Asad Shafiq Pakistan Australia 137 Brisbane 2016
7 Peter Handscomb Australia Pakistan 105 Brisbane 2016
6 Steve Smith Australia Pakistan 130 Brisbane 2016
5 Stephen Cook South Africa Australia 104 Adelaide 2016
4 Usman Khawaja Australia South Africa 145 Adelaide 2016
3 Faf du Plessis South Africa Australia 118 Adelaide 2016
2 Darren Bravo West Indies Pakistan 116 Dubai 2016
1 Azhar Ali Pakistan West Indies 302 Dubai 2016

With the introduction of the pink-ball Test matches, it will be interesting to see how much viewership it attracts in the era of white-ball cricket and T20 franchise leagues across the globe, which are loved by fans lot and have generated record numbers of viewership in the past.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 07, 2024 09:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).