Zimbabwe’s Gary Ballance becomes second batter in Test history to score hundreds for two countries

Another day another piece of history!

A day after former Windies legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s son, Tagenarine Chanderpaul scripted history by scoring a double hundred in the first innings of the ongoing first Test in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s very own Gary Ballance on Tuesday, February 7th, entered record books with his maiden Test ton for his new team. With his hundred on day four, Ballance became only the second batter in Test history to score two centuries for two different countries (England and Zimbabwe) – Kepler Wessels was the first one to achieve this feat for South Africa and Australia.

On day four, Ballance came out to bat in the 42nd over and took his time before settling down in his debut Test for his birth-country. After he jammed his feet, he went about his business and completed his fifty in 126 balls. It was about time before he converted a good start into a landmark figure – as he completed his maiden Test century for Zimbabwe inside 189 balls.

Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Ballance even represented them at the junior level during the 2006 Under-19 World Cup. He then moved to England where he joined Yorkshire before making his international debut for England in January 2014. Since then till 2017, he played 23 Tests scoring 1498 runs at an average of 37.45. However, following a controversy surrounding ‘institutional racism’ at the Yorkshire Cricket Club, Ballance’s contract was terminated.

It was then he decided to return to where it all began for him and signed a new two-year contract with Zimbabwe Cricket who welcomed him with open arms. Earlier this year, he made his white-ball debut for Zimbabwe in the home series against Ireland.

Meanwhile, the left-handed Ballance remained unbeaten on 137 off 231 balls as Zimbabwe declared their first innings on 379 for nine.