On this day in sport: Guptill's 237*, Gavaskar's maiden hundred, Kane's first PL hat-trick

On March 21 in previous years, the NBA saw a rough-and-tumble match make history and Ruud Gullit became a record-breaking signing.

Published : Mar 21, 2020 14:03 IST

Gavaskar scored his first Test century on the third day of the Test.
Gavaskar scored his first Test century on the third day of the Test.
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Gavaskar scored his first Test century on the third day of the Test.

With the majority of world sports postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, we have time to look back at some famous - and perhaps forgotten - exploits and broaden our knowledge.

Regardless of how much we think we know, there is always more that can be learned. A trip down memory lane often proves worthwhile.

With that in mind, we looked back at what occurred on March 21 in years gone by to bring you the best bits.

2015 - Guptill's World Cup record

International cricket had already witnessed a quintet of ODI double-centuries and all of them shared one similarity: they had all been scored by opening batsmen. It was clear by now that if one could bat almost half his team's quota of overs, had the range of shots to hit boundaries outside the powerplay overs and had a bit of luck, scoring a double-century was possible.

Martin Guptill ticks the first two boxes but no one plans for milestones. Luck was on Guptill's side and he made the most of it to become the sixth ODI double-centurion and register the highest score in World Cups, surpassing Chris Gayle's 215 against Zimbabwe at the 2015 World Cup.

 

West Indies' Marlon Samuels dropped him on the third ball he faced and it became one of the costliest drop catches with Guptill finishing unbeaten on 237 off 163 balls, adding a whopping 233 runs after the reprieve. The New Zealand opener got to his first hundred off 111 balls, reached 150 off 135 balls and brought up the double-century off the 152nd ball he faced.

The knock came in the quarterfinals of the Trans-tasman World Cup with New Zealand winning by 143 runs after bowling out the West Indies for 250 having piled on 393 for six thanks in no small part to Guptill's double-century.

1953 – An NBA record that still stands

When the Boston Celtics hosted the Syracuse Nationals in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals it was a game that went down in history.

The teams combined for an incredible 106 personal fouls in a quadruple-overtime battle that saw 12 players foul out, with neither team having enough personnel left to make substitutions in the final two OT periods.

Police were also required to get fans and players off the floor following Dolph Schayes and Bob Brannum getting into a fight that saw both ejected.

Red Rocha and Paul Seymour played 67 minutes each in a slug fest that ended with the Celtics triumphing 111-105.

 

1971 – Gavaskar gets going

Sunil Gavaskar is undoubtedly one of the greatest openers in Test cricket history.

In just his second match in the longest format for India, he scored the first of his 34 centuries.

It came in the third Test against West Indies in Georgetown, Guyana, and he made 116 in his first innings of what ended up a drawn match.

 

1982 – Pate at the Players

The 1982 Players Championship was the first on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass and Jerry Pate ensured it lived long in the memory.

After sending his ball into the water at the par-four 18th in round three, Pate thought victory had slipped from his grasp.

However, in round for he posted gains on the island-green 17th and the final hole to defeat his brother-in-law Bruce Lietzke and Scott Simpson by two shots.

To celebrate, he took a famous dip in the water hazard at the last.

 

1987 – Record-breaking Gullit agrees Milan move

Silvio Berlusconi made Ruud Gullit the most expensive player in the world when he signed him from PSV.

The powerful midfielder won the 1987 Ballon d'Or and went on to win three Serie A titles and back-to-back European Cups during his time in Milan.

Gullit now has a permanent place in the Rossoneri's Hall of Fame.

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Ruud Gullit in action for Milan
 

2015 - Kane's first treble

Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane scored his first Premier League hat-trick against his former loan club Leicester City in a thrilling 4-3 win at the Old White Hart Lane.

In the next 30 months, he bagged seven more hat-tricks putting him in the fourth place in the all-time list in the competition.

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