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The main photo above shows Ravi in full flow during his superb knock of
108 during the 2nd Test against the West Indies at Chester-le-Street,
Durham in May 2009. Bopara's efforts helped England rack up an imposing
total of 569-6 declared and they went on to complete a convincing
innings & 83 runs victory after dismissing the Windies for 310 and
176.
The inset pictures show Ravi during his excellent innings of 143
during the 1st Test at Lord's and these two hundreds, combined with 104
in his previous Test outing, also against the West Indies, saw Bopara
join a very elite band of English batsman who had scored centuries for
their country in three successive innings.
The other batsmen in question
are Herbert Sutcliffe, Denis Compton, Geoff Boycott and, fittingly,
Ravi's batting coach Graham Gooch. What made Bopara's feat all the more
remarkable was the fact that he had scored ducks in each of his previous
three innings for England before the run of three centuries !
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