Top 10 highest team totals in Test cricket

Sri Lanka’s 952/6d against India in August 1997 is till date the highest Test score. The Lankan Lions rode on the back of Sanath Jayasuriya’s 578-ball 340 as the Island nation became only the second team in history to breach the 900-run mark in the longest form.

In doing so, Sri Lanka surpassed England’s score of 903/7d that they had scored against Australia in August 1938. England and Sri Lanka are the only countries that have scored 900-plus in a Test innings.

Quite interestingly, during England’s 903/7d, a certain Leonard Hutton set the record for most ball faced in a Test innings. The England opener took a whopping 847 balls to score 364 runs in a match that went in their favour.

Eight years before England’s record total, the Three Lions had set the benchmark at 849 runs to beat. In April 1930, England took on West Indies in a match that saw Andy Sandham playing the then third-longest Test innings as he took 640 balls to score 325. Wicket-keeper batsman Les Ames scored 149 as England were bundled out for 849. Despite the duo’s effort, the match ended in a draw.

It took almost 20 years for any other team to get close to the 800-run mark since England first did it in 1930. In February 1958, the third Test between Pakistan and West Indies saw the latter posting 790/3d; a score that is now the fourth-highest team total in Test cricket.

Pakistan’s 765/6d against Sri Lanka in February 2009 is the highest Test score for a team in the 21st century which completes the top five list. In the same year, Sri Lanka came close but declared their innings at 760/7 against India.

Meanwhile, India’s highest Test score came against England in December 2016. Riding on Karun Nair’s triple ton, India posted 759/7d in Chennai and won the game by an innings and 75 runs.

Highest Test score

Featured photo: AFP / Sena Vidanagama