New Feature: The Greatest Test Innings

[Days of Grace]

Updated list, including all scores with a rating of 15.00 or above


1 B.C. Lara 153* Australia Bridgetown 1999 25.86
2 G.A. Gooch 154* West Indies Leeds 1991 25.00
3 I.T. Botham 149* Australia Leeds 1981 24.89
4 C. Bannerman 165* England Melbourne 1877 24.77
5 V.V.S. Laxman 281 Australia Kolkata 2001 23.59
6 D.G. Bradman 270 England Melbourne 1937 23.26
7 C. Hill 188 England Melbourne 1898 22.63
8 Azhar Mahmood 132 South Africa Durban 1998 22.33
9 C.G. Greenidge 134 England Manchester 1976 22.26
10 G.L. Jessop 104 Australia The Oval 1902 21.81
11 S.T. Jayasuriya 253 Pakistan Faisalabad 2004 21.65
12 D.L. Amiss 262* West Indies Kingston 1974 21.64
13 V. Sehwag 201* Sri Lanka Galle 2008 21.16
14 S.J. McCabe 232 England Nottingham 1938 20.80
15 Saeed Anwar 188 India Kolkata 1999 20.64
16 B.C. Lara 213 Australia Kingston 1999 20.36
17 V.V.S. Laxman 167 Australia Sydney 2000 20.09
18 G.S. Chappell 176 New Zealand Christchurch 1982 20.06
19 M.J. Slater 123 England Sydney 1999 20.03
20 K.J. Hughes 100* West Indies Melbourne 1981 19.97
21 H.P. Tillekaratne 115 Pakistan Faisalabad 1995 19.92
22 C.L. Walcott 220 England Bridgetown 1954 19.79
23 S.M. Gavaskar 221 England The Oval 1979 19.68
24 L. Klusener 118 Sri Lanka Kandy 2000 19.66
25 D.G. Bradman 299* South Africa Adelaide 1932 19.43
26 Mohammad Wasim 192 Zimbabwe Harare 1998 19.32
27 Inzamam-ul-Haq 329 New Zealand Lahore 2002 19.27
28 N. Kapil Dev 129 South Africa Port Elizabeth 1992 19.21
29 R. Dravid 233 Australia Adelaide 2003 19.18
30 Asif Iqbal 146 England The Oval 1967 19.10
31 K.C. Sangakkara 156* New Zealand Wellington 2006 19.05
32 D.G. Bradman 334 England Leeds 1930 19.00
33 R.E. Foster 287 Australia Sydney 1903 18.95
34 J.L. Langer 191 Pakistan Perth 2004 18.93
35 G.C. Smith 154* England Birmingham 2008 18.91
36 S.M. Gavaskar 236* West Indies Madras 1983 18.90
37 A.C. Gilchrist 149* Pakistan Hobart 1999 18.87
38 V. Sehwag 319 South Africa Chennai 2008 18.75
39 Hanif Mohammad 337 West Indies Bridgetown 1958 18.68
40 P.F. Warner 132* South Africa Johannesburg 1899 18.63
41 O.G. Smith 168 England Nottingham 1957 18.50
42 D.G. Bradman 103* England Melbourne 1933 18.33
43 C.L. Cairns 80 England The Oval 1999 18.32
44 Kamran Akmal 113 India Karachi 2006 18.19
45 N.J. Astle 222 England Christchurch 2002 18.16
46 G. Kirsten 100* Pakistan Faisalabad 1997 18.14
47 M.E. Trescothick 180 South Africa Johannesburg 2005 18.04
48 M.A. Butcher 173* Australia Leeds 2001 17.92
49 G.M. Turner 223* West Indies Kingston 1972 17.92
50 Hanif Mohammad 187 England Lord's 1967 17.91
51 G.R. Viswanath 97* West Indies Madras 1975 17.82
52 V.T. Trumper 159 South Africa Melbourne 1911 17.82
53 W.R. Hammond 336* New Zealand Auckland 1933 17.79
54 I.J.L. Trott 184 Pakistan Lord's 2010 17.76
55 B. Mitchell 164* England Lord's 1935 17.73
56 D.I. Gower 154* West Indies Kingston 1981 17.64
57 D.G. Bradman 304 England Leeds 1934 17.55
58 B.C. Lara 226 Australia Adelaide 2005 17.55
59 G.J. Bonnor 128 England Sydney 1885 17.46
60 A.R. Border 163 India Melbourne 1985 17.45
61 R.G. Pollock 125 England Nottingham 1965 17.44
62 J. Ryder 201* England Adelaide 1925 17.39
63 G.P. Thorpe 200* New Zealand Christchurch 2002 17.38
64 Inzamam-ul-Haq 138* Bangladesh Multan 2003 17.38
65 L. Hutton 205 West Indies Kingston 1954 17.34
66 G.S. Sobers 168 Australia Sydney 1961 17.33
67 W.R. Hammond 231 Australia Sydney 1936 17.31
68 A.C. Gilchrist 144 Bangladesh Fatullah 2006 17.21
69 B.F. Butcher 133 England Lord's 1963 17.21
70 D.G. Bradman 212 England Adelaide 1937 17.18
71 G.R. Viswanath 114 Australia Melbourne 1981 17.12
72 C.G. Greenidge 213 New Zealand Auckland 1987 17.08
73 D.L. Amiss 179 India Delhi 1976 17.07
74 M.C. Cowdrey 102 Australia Melbourne 1954 17.06
75 M.A. Atherton 185* South Africa Johannesburg 1995 16.95
76 J.V. Coney 111* Pakistan Dunedin 1985 16.93
77 C.G. Greenidge 214* England Lord's 1984 16.90
78 M.E. Waugh 116 South Africa Port Elizabeth 1997 16.88
79 A. Flintoff 73 Australia Birmingham 2005 16.87
80 D.N. Sardesai 212 West Indies Kingston 1971 16.82
81 G.A. Headley 270* England Kingston 1935 16.79
82 P.S. McDonnell 147 England Sydney 1882 16.77
83 M.A. Taylor 144 West Indies St. John's 1991 16.76
84 K.D. Walters 104* New Zealand Auckland 1974 16.74
85 Aamer Sohail 133 Australia Karachi 1998 16.72
86 C.H. Lloyd 161* India Calcutta 1983 16.71
87 A.M.J. Hilditch 113 West Indies Melbourne 1984 16.56
88 Moin Khan 117* Sri Lanka Sialkot 1995 16.48
89 Saleem Malik 237 Australia Rawalpindi 1994 16.46
90 J.B. Hobbs 93* South Africa Johannesburg 1910 16.44
91 G.R. Viswanath 124 West Indies Chennai 1979 16.42
92 M.G. Burgess 119* Pakistan Dacca 1969 16.42
93 G.S. Chappell 182* West Indies Sydney 1976 16.40
94 C.H. Gayle 333 Sri Lanka Galle 2010 16.35
95 K.P. Pietersen 142 Sri Lanka Birmingham 2006 16.32
96 M.J. Clarke 151 South Africa Cape Town 2011 16.32
97 D.J. McGlew 255* New Zealand Wellington 1953 16.29
98 R.G. Pollock 274 Australia Durban 1970 16.23
99 H.W. Taylor 109 England Durban 1913 16.23
100 R.G. Pollock 209 Australia Cape Town 1967 16.16
101 V.V.S. Laxman 96 South Africa Durban 2010 16.15
102 D.C.S. Compton 278 Pakistan Nottingham 1954 16.14
103 S.M. Nurse 258 New Zealand Christchurch 1969 16.10
104 B.C. Lara 400* England St. John's 2004 16.09
105 L. Hutton 364 Australia The Oval 1938 15.97
106 S.C.J. Broad 169 Pakistan Lord's 2010 15.97
107 A. F.ower 199* South Africa Harare 2001 15.94
108 W.W. Armstrong 159* South Africa Johannesburg 1902 15.90
109 D.J. Cullinan 122* India Johannesburg 1997 15.89
110 J.H. Kallis 162 England Durban 2004 15.86
111 S.R. Tendulkar 169 South Africa Cape Town 1997 15.85
112 R.T. Simpson 156* Australia Melbourne 1951 15.80
113 K.C. Wessels 162 England Brisbane 1982 15.77
114 G.N. Yallop 121 England Sydney 1979 15.76
115 S.R. Waugh 108 England Manchester 1997 15.76
116 J.N. Rhodes 76 Australia Sydney 1994 15.75
117 D.G. Bradman 226 South Africa Brisbane 1931 15.73
118 R.T. Ponting 156 England Manchester 2005 15.73
119 S.R. Tendulkar 136 Pakistan Chennai 1999 15.69
120 M.J. Greatbatch 146* Australia Perth 1989 15.69
121 D.P.M.D. Jayawardene 374 South Africa Colombo 2006 15.69
122 G.R. Viswanath 139 West Indies Calcutta 1974 15.68
123 Saeed Anwar 118 South Africa Durban 1998 15.67
124 R.N. Harvey 167 England Melbourne 1959 15.66
125 B.B. McCullum 225 India Hyderabad 2010 15.65
126 F.M.M. Worrell 261 England Nottingham 1950 15.64
127 G.P. Thorpe 113* Sri Lanka Colombo 2001 15.62
128 K.P. Pietersen 158 Australia The Oval 2005 15.61
129 I.R. Redpath 159* New Zealand Auckland 1974 15.59
130 S.J. McCabe 187 England Sydney 1932 15.59
131 Hon. F.S. Jackson 128 Australia Manchester 1902 15.56
132 H. Graham 105 England Sydney 1895 15.55
133 L. Vincent 224 Sri Lanka Wellington 2005 15.50
134 Inzamam-ul-Haq 95 South Africa Johannesburg 1995 15.49
135 A.C. Gilchrist 138* South Africa Cape Town 2002 15.46
136 D.P.M.D. Jayawardene 167 New Zealand Galle 1998 15.46
137 K.C. Sangakkara 211 Pakistan Abu Dubai 2011 15.45
138 S.M. Nurse 168 New Zealand Auckland 1969 15.44
139 D.M. Jones 184* England Sydney 1987 15.43
140 R.T. Ponting 257 India Melbourne 2003 15.38
141 D.I. Gower 173* Pakistan Lahore 1984 15.38
142 A.R. Morris 206 England Adelaide 1951 15.38
143 G. Kirsten 130 England Leeds 2003 15.37
144 M.A. Butcher 116 South Africa Leeds 1998 15.36
145 K.C. Sangakkara 192 Australia Hobart 2007 15.36
146 R.M. Cowper 307 England Melbourne 1966 15.25
147 D.S. Atkinson 219 Australia Bridgetown 1955 15.21
148 W.H. Ponsford 266 England The Oval 1934 15.20
149 I.T. Botham 114 India Bombay 1980 15.17
150 L. Hutton 156* Australia Adelaide 1951 15.14
151 L. Hutton 62 Australia Brisbane 1950 15.11
152 K.R. Ranjitsinghi 93* Australia Nottingham 1899 15.09
153 J.L. Langer 127 Pakistan Hobart 1999 15.07
154 R.N. Harvey 151* South Africa Durban 1950 15.03
155 A.I. Kallicharran 126 Australia Kingston 1978 15.02
156 S.R. Tendulkar 248* Bangladesh Dhaka 2004 15.01


2 or more innings with a rating of 15.00 or more:
A.C. Gilchrist 3
B.C. Lara 4
C.G. Greenidge 3
D.G. Bradman 7
D.I. Gower 2
D.L. Amiss 2
D.P.M.D. Jayawardene 2
G. Kirsten 2
G.P. Thorpe 2
G.R. Viswanath 4
G.S. Chappell 2
Hanif Mohammad 2
Inzamam-ul-Haq 3
I.T. Botham 2
J.L. Langer 2
K.C. Sangakkara 2
K.P. Pietersen 2
L. Hutton 4
M.A. Butcher 2
R.G. Pollock 3
R.N. Harvey 2
R.T. Ponting 2
S.J. McCabe 2
S.M. Gavaskar 2
S.M. Nurse 2
S.R. Tendulkar 3
Saeed Anwar 2
V. Sehwag 2
V.V.S. Laxman 3
W.R. Hammond 2

 

[ankitj]

Finally, Tendulkar appears on a list of greatest innings

 

[Burgey]

Interesting to see Mark Butcher in there with two digs which qualify. He was certainly a handy enough player, but there are some genuine greats in the list.

 

[Days of Grace]

43 C.L. Cairns 80 England The Oval 1999 18.32
45 N.J. Astle 222 England Christchurch 2002 18.16
49 G.M. Turner 223* West Indies Kingston 1972 17.92
76 J.V. Coney 111* Pakistan Dunedin 1985 16.93
92 M.G. Burgess 119* Pakistan Dacca 1969 16.42
120 M.J. Greatbatch 146* Australia Perth 1989 15.69
125 B.B. McCullum 225 India Hyderabad 2010 15.65
133 L. Vincent 224 Sri Lanka Wellington 2005 15.50

Best New Zealand innings.

In order to remember some better days, can any of the NZ posters nominate another innings that might crack the 15.00 barrier?

Besides these famous ones:

M.D. Crowe 188 West Indies Georgetown 1985 14.96
J.R. Reid 142 South Africa Johannesburg 1962 14.76
B.A. Young 267* Sri Lanka Dunedin 1997 14.69
I.D.S. Smith 173 India Auckland 1990 14.11
S.P. Fleming 274* Sri Lanka Colombo 2003 14.04
M.S. Sinclair 150 South Africa 2000 14.00
J.R. Reid 100 Christchurch 1963 13.71
B.E. Congdon 176 England Nottingham 1973 13.17
W.K. Lees 152 Pakistan Karachi 1976 12.07
M.S. Sinclair 214 West Indies Wellington 1999 11.87
M.D. Crowe 299 Sri Lanka Wellington 1991 11.85
L.P.R.L. Taylor 107 India Wellington 2009 10.26
C.L. Cairns 158 South Africa Auckland 2004 9.85

 

[ankitj]

Lack of Chris Martin raises doubts on the credibility of this list tbh.

 

[Burgey]

Best New Zealand innings.

In order to remember some better days, can any of the NZ posters nominate another innings that might crack the 15.00 barrier?

Besides these famous ones:

M.D. Crowe 188 West Indies Georgetown 1985 14.96
J.R. Reid 142 South Africa Johannesburg 1962 14.76
B.A. Young 267* Sri Lanka Dunedin 1997 14.69
I.D.S. Smith 173 India Auckland 1990 14.11
S.P. Fleming 274* Sri Lanka Colombo 2003 14.04
M.S. Sinclair 150 South Africa 2000 14.00
J.R. Reid 100 Christchurch 1963 13.71
B.E. Congdon 176 England Nottingham 1973 13.17
W.K. Lees 152 Pakistan Karachi 1976 12.07
M.S. Sinclair 214 West Indies Wellington 1999 11.87
M.D. Crowe 299 Sri Lanka Wellington 1991 11.85
L.P.R.L. Taylor 107 India Wellington 2009 10.26
C.L. Cairns 158 South Africa Auckland 2004 9.85

What about any of Bert Sutcliffe's innings, DOG? He's regarded very highly as an all-time Kiwi player isn't he?

 

[hang on]

wow.

richards, sobers, kallis, hobbs inter alia all have 1 or 0 15 plus innings. not to mention hayden and dravid.

and pollock has 3 in such a short career!

 

[ankitj]

and pollock has 3 in such a short career!

Which is why I rate him so highly. In a very short period itself he was playing those really dominating knocks. One wonders how he would have done if he played for another 8-10 years! He makes it to my all time XI at the expense of Richards, Tendulkar, Lara, Hammond et al.

 

[NUFAN]

Finally, Tendulkar appears on a list of greatest innings

He's very lucky. His 248* was against Bangladesh and Zaheer Khan made 70 odd batting at 11!

His 169 was thanks largely to the brilliance of Azharuddin and SRT's 136 while gallant, was in a losing cause where he didn't finish the job. Also, the innings from Afridi in the same match was more amazing.

 

[hang on]

He's very lucky. His 248* was against Bangladesh and Zaheer Khan made 70 odd batting at 11!

His 169 was thanks largely to the brilliance of Azharuddin and SRT's 136 while gallant, was in a losing cause where he didn't finish the job. Also, the innings from Afridi in the same match was more amazing.

quite. that man azharuddin was just something else, wasn't he; i mean, who else could bat at both ends? and, of course, afridi's innings was more amazing....facing the might of the indian bowling instead of akram, waqar, saqlain.

 

[hang on]

Which is why I rate him so highly. In a very short period itself he was playing those really dominating knocks. One wonders how he would have done if he played for another 8-10 years! He makes it to my all time XI at the expense of Richards, Tendulkar, Lara, Hammond et al.

must be so gratifying for him!

 

[ankitj]

must be so gratifying for him!

lol. notsureifsarcastic.

 

[ankitj]

He's very lucky. His 248* was against Bangladesh and Zaheer Khan made 70 odd batting at 11!

His 169 was thanks largely to the brilliance of Azharuddin and SRT's 136 while gallant, was in a losing cause where he didn't finish the job. Also, the innings from Afridi in the same match was more amazing.

Agree on 248* and 169.

136 vs Pakistan did not win India the match which is why I think it is at #119 and not in top 25. However his best knock I think was 155 in SA in Sehwag's debut match

 

[Spark]

In the end though this is a statistical measure so doesn't take into account the stuff about context etc. which really makes an innings great. Otherwise Ponting's 156 and possibly Clarke's 151 (the two best innings by an Aus player I've seen live) would be much, much higher IMO.

 

[honestbharani]

quite. that man azharuddin was just something else, wasn't he; i mean, who else could bat at both ends? and, of course, afridi's innings was more amazing....facing the might of the indian bowling instead of akram, waqar, saqlain.

yeah facing the 99 Waqar was really difficult, sure..

 

[honestbharani]

lol. notsureifsarcastic.

reallysureitissarcastic

 

[G.I.Joe]

I think hang on might have meant 'grating', not 'gratifying'.

 

[abmk]

yeah facing the 99 Waqar was really difficult, sure..

well, not so in general, but he did bowl a good spell in the closing stages of day 3 in that test.

Saqlain of course was at his very best and Wasim was bowling very well.

 

[abmk]

He's very lucky. His 248* was against Bangladesh and Zaheer Khan made 70 odd batting at 11!

yes, good innings, but nowhere near any of the best .....

His 169 was thanks largely to the brilliance of Azharuddin

this is a joke , right ? He was in before Azhar and got out quite some time after him, farming the strike with the tail and helping India avoid follow-on. While Azhar's innings was more daring, Sachin's was easily the better one ....Adam Bacher !!!!!

and SRT's 136 while gallant, was in a losing cause where he didn't finish the job. Also, the innings from Afridi in the same match was more amazing.

Well, if the job was done, it would've been in the top 20 for sure !

Re: afridi, good joke ..... Nice innings, something that is 'forgotten', but better than the 136 ? hell no !

 

[honestbharani]

I think Sachin's 136 was his best.. And the 114 or something he made in Perth in 1992 as his second best. The Capetown knock, while good, is nowhere near these two in my opinion. And there was his 150 odd in Bloemfontein when he batted with Sehwag on debut, think that was much better than the CapeTown knock which was on a flattened out track.