Batting of the inept variety may have hogged the headlines in the recent debacle between Australia and Pakistan at Sharjah, but the Man of the Match award went to Matthew Hayden, whose innings of 119 was seven more runs than Pakistan managed in two complete knocks. And now he has gained further recognition for his efforts, with a place in the Wisden 100. Hayden's innings was probably one of the greatest to be played in adverse conditions. The temperature on the ground was 50 degrees, and by the time he was ninth man out, he had faced 255 balls and batted for over 7 hours.

With a total of 189.51 points, he joins the list in 96th position. Even though this is a fairly low entry, the Wisden 100 has become so exclusive that only four innings have entered in the 15 months since its launch. Hence Hayden's innings is likely to stay on the list for some time to come, and, judging by his recent form, a higher entry cannot be ruled out in the future.

Quite apart from the oppressive heat and the disproportionately low scores in the match, Hayden's innings rates highly because of the quality of Pakistan's bowling attack (a line-up of Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Saqlain Mushtaq and Abdul Razzaq is not to be sniffed at), his lengthy tenure at the crease, especially the time spent batting with the tail, and the fact that it was an away win – even if Australia's bowlers were made to feel very much at home.

The only other innings to have joined the list since it was drawn up in July 2001 are Mark Butcher's 173 not out against Australia at Headingley in August 2001, Nathan Astle's 222 off 168 balls against England at Christchurch in March 2002, and Inzamam-ul-Haq's 329 against New Zealand at Lahore in May 2002.

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