Sobers' retirement in 1974 coincided with the dawn of West Indian cricket as the most potent force in the world.

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As well as passing Sobers' 26 Test tons, Lara also leap-frogged Sunil Gavaskar (10, 122) and Sachin Tendulkar (10, 134) into third place in the all-time leading run-scorers in Test cricket.

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The glitzy launch was attended by a number of past cricket stars including Sir Ian Botham, Sir Viv Richards, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Everton Weekes, Curtly Ambrose and Nasser Hussain.

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The previous record - Sir Garry Sobers' 365 not out against Pakistan - had stood since February 1958, and fittingly, the Windies legend was at the ground to watch his record broken.

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Gary Sobers (102) and Kanhai (92) guided the tourists to 397 after they won the toss and Griffith was in destructive mood as he took six for 36 as England were hustled out for 174.

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Despite that, Razzaq looked out of sorts when he failed to make contact with four balls from Bond before lashing one high over mid-wicket which landed on the roof of the Sir Garfield Sobers pavilion.

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The Sobers record was broken when Lara hooked Chris Lewis (0-140 from 33 overs) for four, prompting a pitch invasion - but when play resumed, he did not last much longer before being caught behind off Andy Caddick.

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Ajmal redeemed himself when he had Lumb stumped in his first over, before Kieswetter was caught at long-on off Abdul Razzaq two overs after driving Mohammad Hafeez for an enormous six which took a chunk of masonry out of the Sir Garfield Sobers pavilion.

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Former England batsman Geoff Boycott , who became the first Englishman to score more than 8, 000 Test runs, breaking West Indies all-rounder Sir Garry Sobers' batting record in the process, told BBC Radio 5 Live that Tendulkar will hold the record for years to come.

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