Stephen Fleming walked into the annals of international cricketing history on Tuesday, with his final innings encapsulating his entire career.
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Fleming, as he so often did, got a start and with his characteristic drives and fluency, moved effortlessly to 30, then 40 and finally past 50 before tea on the fourth day of the third Test against England in Napier.
The boundary off Monty Panesar to bring up his 46th Test half century epitomised his fluid stroke play. A shortish ball on middle and off stump was wristily punched through the gap between mid-on and mid-wicket for his eighth four, prompting a standing ovation from the McLean Park crowd.
When he moved to 54 shortly after, he achieved another milestone.
He passed 7160 Test runs, ensuring he would end his career with an average over 40 -- a mark statistically considered as registering the player as a "good" batsman.
However, again, as he so often did, a simple lapse in concentration lead to his downfall.
Chasing an improbable 553 for victory and just when his team needed him to try and emulate his previous two Test double centuries, a short, wide ball from Panesar after tea presented him with the chance to punch the delivery square past point.
Instead of racing away for his 10th boundary, it caught the toe of his bat and wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose did the rest to end his innings on 66, and career on 7172 runs -- the most by a New Zealander and 31st on the all-time list.
He finished with an average of 40.06
Once again, the 34-year-old had missed the opportunity of adding to his haul of Test centuries.
On 54 previous occasions he had passed 50, but turned just nine into centuries -- a conversion ratio of 16.36 percent.
The crowd, which included his young daughter and heavily pregnant wife Kelly, rose again, with England's players also applauding as he made his way back underneath the Harris Stand, triggering contrasting emotions for the left-hander.
"I walked off frustrated, which has happened 50 or 60 times in my career and I did have a smile at myself that it was a fitting way to go," Fleming told reporters.
"The first 30 paces I was just annoyed to be walking off with another start and then I guess trying to savour who was here and what it was about.
"I was just enjoying the ovation I was getting and... it was mixed emotions."
Fleming, who had said his goal for the series against England were statistically motivated, admitted he was satisfied with his career but felt he had underachieved.
"As a batsman, I will always feel I underachieved just because I couldn't convert.
"I don't know why I couldn't convert and sometimes I was the master of my own failings, other times it just wasn't meant to be.
"I'll always rue that fact and wonder why, but I know there are bigger things out there so it won't last too long.
"It would've been nice to chalk up number 10 (in) hundreds... but when I take time to reflect I guess I'm satisfied."
