The highest Test scores ever include Sri Lanka’s 952/6, England’s 903/7, and Australia’s 758/8. These record totals showcase exceptional batting performances and have set remarkable benchmarks in cricket history.
Highest Test innings scores of all time
5. Pakistan – 765/6d
Pakistan v Sri Lanka, February 2009 (Karachi)
Sri Lanka kick-started the match by declaring on 644/7d, only to sit back and watch Pakistan captain Younis Khan motor up a 313 total before being bowled after facing 568 balls. Kamran Akmal came in at No.7 with 158 not out before Pakistan declared on 765/6d. Sri Lanka sat on 144/5 in their second innings before time expired and the game ended in a draw.
4. West Indies – 790/3d
Pakistan racked up a solid total of 328 in their first innings before West Indies’s opener Conrad Hunte struck 260 before being run out in Kingston. The legendary Garfield Sobers stepped in at No.3 to rack up 365 alongside Hunte to set West Indies on the track to victory. They declared on 790/3d and wiped out the Pakistan batting line-up for 288 to win the match by an innings and 174 runs.
3. England – 849
West Indies v England, April 1930 (Kingston)
Opener Andy Sandham had nowhere to be that week in 1930. He dug in to face 640 balls, more than 100 full overs’ worth of deliveries, and converted that into a 325 score before being bowled. Nine of the England line-up racked up 20 or more before finishing up with 849. West Indies racked up 286 all out, England declared on 272 in their second innings and West Indies picked up 408/5 before time ran out and the match ended in a draw.
2. England – 903/7d
England v Australia, August 1938 (The Oval)
Australia led the 1938 Ashes series 1-0 after four Tests following two draws and a match abandoned without a ball bowled. Could England produce a big performance to fend off a winless series defeat? Leonard Hutton decided ‘yes’. Hutton struck 364 from a monstrous 847 balls faced, while Maurice Leyland and Joe Hardstaff picked up 187 and 169 respectively. Australia hit 201 in their first innings and followed on to exchange their 10 wickets for just 123 runs in their second innings. England won by an innings and 579 runs.
1. Sri Lanka – 952/6d
Sri Lanka v India, August 1997 (Colombo RPS)
Neither side came back to the crease after each of their first innings in this one. India struck 537/8 with three players collecting centuries before they declared. Sri Lanka had no intention of allowing India back into bat. Sanath Jayasuriya picked up 340 runs from 578 balls while No.3 Roshan Mahanama took 225. The pair stayed at the crease for two whole days together, uninterrupted. Others in the team recorded 126, 86, 66, 26, 14, and 11 to secure the highest-scoring innings in Test cricket: 952/6. Unfortunately for the Sri Lankans, the game would’ve taken approximately five years to complete, as opposed to the five-day window afforded to them. The match ended as a draw.
