Shivnarine Chanderpaul overtakes Sachin Tendulkar most unbeaten Test centuries

Hamilton:  Shivnarine Chanderpaul (file photo)Veteran West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul on Friday overtook Australian Allan Border as the sixth highest all-time run scorer in Test cricket. His 122 not out in the third Test against New Zealand was also his 29th century and his 17th unbeaten, putting him one ahead of Indian great Sachin Tendulkar as the batsman with the most unbeaten Test hundreds.

Chanderpaul now has 11,199 runs from his 153 Tests. Border scored 11,174 runs from 156 Tests before he retired in March 1994, the same month the 39-year-old Chanderpaul made his debut.

The fifth highest scorer in Test cricket is Chanderpaul's West Indies compatriot Brian Lara who amassed 11,953, while the list is headed by the recently retired Tendulkar with a colossal 15,921 from 200 matches. The other players in front of Chanderpaul are Australia's Ricky Ponting (13,378), India's Rahul Dravid (13,288), and South African Jacques Kallis (13,140).

The classy Chanderpaul, whose front-on stance would not be found in any coaching manual, has blossomed since Lara's retirement in 2007. When playing in the Lara years, Chanderpaul averaged 44.60 in 101 Tests, but in 52 Tests since he has averaged a shade under 70.