The world stood still to witness master blaster Sachin Tendulkar score his maiden double ton in one-day cricket history. He achieved a feat which no ‘man’ had yet attained, and despite being true, this claim was not true when it comes to cricketers. That’s when Belinda Clarke comes into picture. Clarke is an Australian woman cricketer who, in the 1997 World Cup, scored a double ton to become the first ever cricketer to have achieved this feat.
Clarke is a former Australian captain who scored a massive total of 229 runs - not out for the 1997 World Cup when playing against Denmark on Indian soil. Sachin no doubt stole all the limelight having registered himself as the first man to have smashed a double ton in one-day cricket history and also as the highest scorer for the 50-over format. Almost the entire world adores the little master and many even respect him as a God of the cricketing world. The batting maestro has another dozen more records up his sleeve but the feat acquired by Clarke has been lost in time since long. Not many people even known about this fact, including Sachin himself. When he was contacted on the same account he said that he was unaware of the lady in discussion or about her remarkable feat. He no doubt appreciated the effort, “I have not heard of it, but if she has done such a thing, that’s incredible,” he said in a press conference!”
The day was 16th December, 1997 and the place was Middle Income Group at Bandra, Mumbai. Australia was playing against Denmark at the 1997-98 Women’s World Cup. Australia had already secured a win over Pakistan and South Africa and Denmark was surely not that bigger an opponent. Australia was well expected to win the match when Belinda Clarke came to bat along with her opening partner, Lisa Keightley. Clarke was the captain of her side and both of them took their opening partnership to 150 runs. Keightley fell at 60 to yield Denmark their first dismissal at 168 runs. But Clarke was unstoppable and had already secured her century by then. The skipper managed to reach 229 runs from 155 runs without hitting a six. The striker was scoring at a strike rate of 147.74.
The time when Sachin scored his double ton, he did it with the help of a strike rate of 136.05 and 25 boundaries. His 200 came from 147 balls that also included 3 spendthrift sixes. However not to forget the important point that Clarke scored her 200+ against a comparatively weaker team like Denmark while Sachin was up to his best against South Africa, who at that time were considered one of the topmost teams in one-day cricket.
It’s tough to decide who the best amongst the two is but it’s undeniable that the effort put in by both of them was splendid. They will always be remembered and honored for it forever.