Test Cricket’s Highest Individual Scores

One of the greatest batters of all time, Brian Lara holds the record for the highest individual score in a Test innings. He scored an unbridled 400 against England in 2004 at St John’s, Antigua. This is one of the international cricket records that is yet to be breached in the past couple of decades. 

Having already sealed the four-match series after winning the initial three matches, West Indies were on the verge of a clean sweep at home when Lara’s greatest knock saved them. Electing to bat first in Antigua, West Indies openers Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga failed to offer a good start with the latter getting out for ten to Andrew Flintoff. However, Gayle mixed caution with aggression on the opening day, consolidating a 65-run second-wicket partnership with Lara. The no. 3 batter was patient at the start and capitalised on the looseners despite losing the dynamic opener at the stroke of Lunch. 

Under the presence of Ramnaresh Sarwan, he got to his fifty in just 61 balls before rain halted the play. As the game resumed later, the skipper found the middle of the bat more often than not, leading to a hundred-run partnership. Resuming the second day from 81*, Lara got to his hundred in the first innings itself. The southpaw continued the same approach for the remainder of the day, getting to his triple hundred before reaching the 400-run mark on the third day’s third session. 

The gargantuan knock propelled West Indies to a first-innings score of 751/5d. To rack up these many runs against a pace bowling attack comprising Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, and Flintoff was nothing less than extraordinary. This was also his second 300-plus score on the same ground. Although the visitors were folded up for 285 in their first innings, Michael Vaughan’s gritty 140 coupled with Marcus Trescothick and Nasser Hussains’ fifties helped the Three Lions force a stalemate.

The burly-built top-order Australian batter was known for his powerful strokeplay. Hayden was one of a kind with the blade, tearing down opponents with exquisite shots. The left-handed batter has the second-highest individual runs in Test cricket when he smashed 380 off 437 balls against Zimbabwe in the first Test in 2003. The innings were spread out with as many as 38 fours and eleven sixes.

Electing to field first at the W.A.C.A, Zimbabwe faced trouble as the opening pair of Justin Langer and Hayden consolidated a fifty-run stand, followed by Ricky Ponting replacing Langer for the second wicket. Hayden scored a fifty off just 67 balls after Lunch, only to convert it into a century by the end of the opening day. He was 27 runs short of a double century at Stumps and raced to it in the morning session of the subsequent day. Half-centuries from Damien Martyn and Steve Waugh gave the southpaw enough time to play his natural game, eventually steering the contest away from the opposition. 

For most of Australia’s innings on the second day, the 8062 fans in Perth were treated to carnage from the deadly duo of OZ - Adam Gilchrist and Hayden. The wicketkeeper-batter went all guns blazing against the Chevrons as he smashed a ton followed by Hayden scoring 380 to propel the hosts to 735/6d in 146.3 overs. 

In response, the visitors were folded for 239 in the game's second innings, thanks to the pace trinity – Bret Lee, Andy Bichel, and Jason Gilespie – bagged 80 percent of the wickets. With the follow-on being enforced, valiant knocks from mark Vermeulen, Sean Ervine, and Heath Streak went in vain as Bichel’s four-for and Darren Lehmann’s three-fer decimated Zimbabwe by an innings and 175 runs.

Having sealed the series 3-1, West Indies headed for the fifth and the final Test of the series against England in 1994. The toss was won by West Indies captain Courtney Walsh and he opted to bat first. The English new ball pacers, Angus Fraser and Andy Caddick drew opening breakthroughs by sending openers – Phil Simmons and Stuart Williams – back to the hut. Despite being put under pressure, Brian Lara showcased immense maturity with the bat, stabilizing the stage with Jimmy Adams. The hosts lost another wicket on the day with Lara making the headlines with an unbridled 164 at Stumps. 

The pitch soothed the batters the next day with West Indies losing a solitary wicket across three sessions. Lara went on to convert it into a triple-hundred, remaining unbeaten at 320 at the end of the day’s play. He went on to pile up a mammoth 375 off just 538 balls, spread with 45 boundaries, before getting dismissed to Caddick. This was the highest individual score in a Test innings then. Surprisingly, ten years later, Lara himself breached this score to pile up 400 against England at the very same venue. Both the Tests ended up in a stalemate.

During the summer of 2006, South Africa toured Sri Lanka for a couple of Tests and a One Day series. However, their start to the excursion didn’t happen as one would have wished for. Although stand-in captain Ashwell Prince won the toss, his decision to bat first backfired when Farveez Maharoof and Dilhara Fernando wreaked havoc in the top order followed by Muttiah Muralitharan’s exploits, reducing the Proteas to 169 runs in the first innings.

In response, the hosts lost a couple of early wickets in Upul Tharanga and Sanath Jayasuriya before Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakarra bounced back in style. The pace quartet of Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Andre Nel, and Andrew Hall struggled against the experienced Sri Lankan duo who held the fort like a thick wall. Sangakkara went to a fifty off just 56 balls compared to Jayawardene’s 76 balls before bad light forced early Stumps.

The southpaw continued merry-making the next day with Jayawardene playing second fiddle initially. Right after Lunch, the right-handed batter secured a century. Only did the Proteas know that the tag team would play through the day, mustering double hundreds each as Sri Lanka’s score read 485/2 in 112 overs. 

The third day of the match seemed to have a similar fate written on the wall until Andrew Hall found a hint of reverse swing to send Sangakkara packing for 287, breaking a mammoth 624 runs third-wicket stand – the highest-ever in Test cricket. Despite losing to his partner, Jayawardene ironed over the South African bowling with his flamboyance and notched up his maiden triple hundred. In no time, Sri Lanka reached the 700-run total but a low-kept delivery off Nel cleaned up the right-hander as he walked off the field with the third-highest individual score of 374, steering the island nation to 756/5d. 

Jayawardene was adjudged the player of the match after Sri Lanka earned an innings victory by 175 runs. 

Having earned a 1-0 lead over Pakistan in the 1958 five-match series, the toss didn’t favour the West Indies captain Gerry Alexander in the third game in Kingston. Batting first, Pakistan was bundled for 328 with Eric Atkinson picking up a fifer. In reply, Rohan Kanhai and Coonrad Hunte offered a brisk start before Sir Gary Sobers joined Hunte in the middle on the second day. Their stonewall approach blended with effortless strokeplay propelled the Men in Maroon to 147/1 at Stumps Day 2.

The pair continued their flourish with the bat on the third day of the third Test as both Hunte and Sobers smashed double hundreds. Pakistan used all their nine bowling options in the innings but found little success on a moving day as Hunte and Sobers went on to amass 260 and 365 respectively. The gargantuan scores helped West Indies declare for 790 runs in the innings before Pakistan was folded for 288, thereby losing the game by an innings and 174 runs.

In the fifth Test of the 1938 Ashes, Leonard Hutton smashed 364 runs off 847 deliveries in the first innings. Trailing by a match in the five-match red-ball series, England decided to bat first and put runs on the board at the Oval. Hutton was excellent with the bat – be it against the pacers or spinners – scoring runs at a 42.97 strike rate. 

The Yorkshire-based batter built a 382-run second-wicket partnership with Maurice Leyland with the latter smashing 187 off 438 balls. After a rest day, they continued their grind with the bat with Hutton reaching 300 at the end of the day. Walking out to bat for the third day in the innings, the right-hander went on to smash 364, setting up England’s 903/7d first innings tally. 

On the flip side, Australia batted twice due to an enforced follow-on but could accumulate 201 and 123 runs in both innings respectively. Eventually, the innings and 579 runs triumph helped the Three Lions draw the series 1-1.

There are a few notable names in cricket history that traumatized Indian fans. One of them was Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya who gleamed against the Men in Blue numerous times. One of those fine knocks was Jayasuriya’s 340 off 578 balls against India in 1997. 

India batted first after winning the toss in the first Test at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. Riding on the back of three centurions – Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sachin Tendulkar, and Mohammad Azharuddin—India put up a 537 runs total for the loss of eight wickets and opted for declaration. Only did captain Azharuddin realize by the end of the match that a gargantuan score by Sri Lanka would dwarf their first innings total. 

Jayasuriya opened the innings with Marvan Atapattu in the third session of the second day with India getting rid of the latter. However, the subsequent day’s play turned out miserable for the Men in Blue as Jayasuriya and Rohan Mahanama teed off against the visitor bowlers, scoring respective tons to propel the Lankans to 322/1 at Stumps on Day 3. The trend continued on day four of the contest as well with the Indian bowlers failing to produce any further wickets as Jayasuriya accelerated to 326* while Mahanama got to 211* at Stumps. They finally found a reprieve after Anil Kumble trapped Mahanama for 225 but Aravinda de Silva’s century added to India’s bowling misery in Colombo as Sri Lanka declared for 952/6 before the captains shook hands.

The five-match Test series between Pakistan and West Indies in 1958 was famous for Hanif Mohammad’s triple hundred, the first from his nation to reach the mark. Winning the toss, West Indies elected to bat first. Conrad Hunte’s 142, Everton Weekes’ 197, and Collie Smith’s 78 steered to a first-innings tally of 579/9d. 

In response, Pakistan was bundled for 106, courtesy of Roy Gilchrist’s four-for and Collie Smith’s three-fer. Impacted by follow-on, Pakistan bounced back in their second innings, thanks to a one-of-a-kind knock from Hanif while opening the innings. What seemed like a difficult wicket to bat on, turned out soothing for the Pakistani batters as Hanif’s 337 was assisted by Imtiaz Ahmed’s 91, Saeed Ahmad’s 65, and a few brisk scores from the middle order. As Pakistan reached 657/8d on the final day, the play ended up as a stalemate.

The two-match Test series between England and New Zealand in 1933 is famous for the triple hundred smashed by Wally Hammond. After Andy Sandham and Don Bradman, Hammond became the third cricketer to score a triple hundred in a red-ball match. 

Following a draw in the opening of the two-match fixture, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first. However, they failed to comply with the Auckland conditions as Billy Bowes made the most out of the pace-friendly situation, bagging a six-wicket haul to reduce the Kiwis to 158. In reply, Hammond’s 336 played a key role in England reaching 548/7d in the second innings. The Kent star’s innings was unorthodox as he showed an attacking nature with the bat. Hammond smoked 34 fours and ten sixes in his magnificent knock. However, the game ended up as a draw like the initial contest of the series.