Matthew Hayden represents brute power in its truest form. The sheer sight of him walking up to the wicket padded up evokes an intimidating feeling among opposition bowlers and fielders alike.
And the strapping left-hander only gave credence to such line of thought when Australia and South Africa clashed in a group game at Basseterre. He treated the Warner Park crowd to some savage hitting en route to registering the fastest World Cup hundred – coming off 68 balls - one fewer than John Davison’s 67-ball century against West Indies at the 2003 World Cup.
Hayden was in a murderous mood from the start after Graeme Smith inserted Australia in. He was severe on Shaun Pollock who kept paying the price of pitching it up. A walk-and-whacked six over mid-wicket and a stand-and-deliver six of Pollock threw enough indication as to who was the boss.
It wasn’t a Hayden show alone as his opening partner Adam Gilchrist was equally aggressive as the Australia rattled along nicely to raise their hundred inside fifteen overs.
The big man brought up his fifty off just 37 balls, banging Andrew Hall through the mid-on boundary. He kept the pounding the South African bowlers after the fall of Gilchrist giving skipper Ricky Ponting entertainment of high value from the other end.
Hayden knows how to reach milestones in style and showed one when he stepped out to Smith and lifted one into the sightscreen to arrive at his hundred amidst applause from the crowd.
Having given everyone their money’s worth, Hayden fell in the next over when he fell to Jacques Kallis for 101, coming off just 68 balls and packed with fourteen fours and for sixes.
The striking feature of his innings was the manner in which he smoked the ball down the ground. In fact, close to fifty percent of his runs came in the V between mid-off and mid-on. He laid a robust platform for the likes of Ponting and Michael Clarke to stitch another big century stand to zip Australia to 377 for 6 in fifty overs.
South Africa refused to crumble under the weight of the huge score and kept themselves in the contest through a rollicking century stand between Smith and AB de Villers. Brad Hogg snared three key wickets to trigger middle and lower-order slide as the Proteas lost their last nine wickets for 74 runs to fold for 294 in 48 overs.
The pyrotechnics from Hayden ensured they were nobody who could have run his close for the Man of the Match award. Not just that, the southpaw became a local boy when he was conferred the honorary St Kitts citizenship.
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