On 5th August 1966, Sir Garry Sobers played one of his best innings and scored a century between Lunch and the Tea break. It was the 4th Test of the series played at Headingley, Leeds and most of the first day was rain-affected. West Indies were on 137/3 at the end of day one. On the second day, Sobers came to bat early at 154/4 and joined Seymour Nurse. The duo added 269 runs in quick time, mostly contributed by Sobers. He scored a brilliant 174 and was the fifth wicket fall. Nurse batted with the tail and added 90 more runs in team total before getting out as he contributed 137.
Sobers finally declared with the team score on 500/9 and now it was time for him to shine with the ball. On day three England were all out for 240 in their first innings as Sobers picked up five wickets for 41 runs in 19.3 overs. It was his fourth five-wicket haul in Test matches and his best bowling analysis at that time. His fast bowlers Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith shared the rest five wickets. For England, only Basil D’Oliveira scored a fighting 88. England had to follow on.
After a rest day on Sunday, the team returned on Monday and England was folded for 205 in that day itself. The off-spinner Lance Gibbs was the wrecker in chief as he delivered his best bowling performance against England and finished with 6/39 in 19 overs. Sobers also chipped in with three wickets for 39 runs and finished the match with 8 for 80. It was a sublime all-round performance by him in one of his greaTest series.
He finished the series with 722 runs at an average of 103.14 as he scored three hundred and two more fifty-plus scores. With the ball in hand, he picked up 20 wickets at an average 27.25. He also took 10 catches and as a captain won the toss in all five Test matches.
West Indies won the series comfortably with a 3-1 scoreline on England soil.
