On 23-24 January 1948 at the Adelaide Oval, Don Bradman made 201 against India — his last Test double hundred and his final Test innings on Australian soil over fifty. Coming after his 100th first-class hundred at Sydney in November 1947, the innings cemented the post-war Bradman as a different kind of batsman: less feverishly fast-scoring, more patient, but no less ruthless against attacks short of front-line bowlers.
By January 1948 Bradman was 39, captain, and had publicly hinted that the 1948 England tour would be his last. His back held up well at Adelaide where the pitch was easy-paced and his innings free of long, awkward periods at the crease.
After two Tests of moderate scoring, Bradman had reasserted himself with 132 and 127 not out at Melbourne. Adelaide, his home ground, was an obvious stage for a final home double.
India, missing the seasoned Mushtaq Ali, had no opening bowler of pace to contain Bradman. He came in at 1/57 and batted into the second day, adding 236 with Lindsay Hassett (198 not out) for the fourth wicket. The Adelaide pitch was at its truest; Bradman drove, cut and worked off his pads with a coolness Australian writers found almost dispassionate after the manic urgency of his pre-war innings.
He was finally caught Phadkar bowled Hazare for 201 in 272 minutes, his fourth Test double hundred and his 27th Test century. Australia declared at 8/674 and won by an innings and 16 runs.
Bradman would not score a Test hundred at home again. His next Tests were the 1948 Ashes in England, where he would make four centuries before his famous Oval duck.
23 Jan 1948 — Bradman in at 1/57
Bradman-Hassett add 236 for the 4th wicket
24 Jan — Bradman c Phadkar b Hazare 201
Australia 8/674 declared
Australia win by an innings and 16 runs
23 Jan 1948
Bradman comes to crease
24 Jan 1948
201 c Phadkar b Hazare
28 Jan 1948
Australia win innings + 16
Bradman ended the Test series with 715 runs at 178.75. Within months he was on the boat to England with the side that became the Invincibles.
A poised, almost valedictory innings. The 201 closed Bradman's home Test ledger with the kind of effortless authority his post-war frame did not always allow.
The 201 remains his final Test hundred at home and the high-water mark of his post-fibrositis batting. Adelaide Oval's Bradman Stand carries scoreboard replicas of the innings.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.