Triple Century in Test Cricket

Scoring a Triple Century in Test Cricket is always considered a very big achievement. Every player dreams of scoring a 300 in his career. But this milestone is far away from most of the considered batting legends. It can be known by the fact that in 136 years of Test Cricket which saw 2718 players play Test Cricket only 22 players could manage to score a Triple Century. Therefore only 0.8% of players have scored a Triple Century in Test Cricket. Test Cricket began in 1877, but the first 300 was scored by Andy Sandham in 1930. Hence it took 53 years for the first Triple Hundred in International Cricket. Since the first Triple Century there have been regular scores of 300s in Test Cricket.

Among the 26 Triple Centuries in Test Cricket 22 players 11 were scored in this century, i.e after the year 2000. This shows the rise of batting standards and the need of long innings and high scores in Test Cricket. Lets have a look at all the Triple Centuries in Test Cricket in the chronological order they were scored and facts about it.

List of Triple Century in Test Cricket in Chronological Order

 * denotes captain

Facts about Triple Century in Test Cricket

# Andy Sandham was the first batsman to score a triple century in Test Cricket. Surprisingly he did not play any match after that.

# Sir Don Bradman’s 334 consisted of 309 runs scored on single day which is a record for most runs in a day in Test History. He is the only player to score 300 runs in a single day of a test match.

# Hanif Mohammad is the first Asian player to hit a Triple century in Test Cricket.

# Hanif Mohammad scored 337 runs in the second innings for his team. This is still the only triple century in Test Cricket in second innings for the team.

# Hanif Mohammad batted 858 minutes to score his Triple Century. This is the slowest Triple Century in Test Cricket.

# Hanif Mohammed scored 337 in 970 minutes which is 16 hours and 10 minutes. This is the longest inning played by any player in Test Cricket. He saved a test match for his team and it is considered as one the greatest inning of all time.

# Sir Garry Sobers’ 365* was his maiden Test Century. He has the record for highest maiden century.

# Bob Simpson’s 311 also was his maiden Test Century. He has the record for highest maiden century as a captain. 

# John Edrich in his 310* hit 52 fours and 5 sixes. He is the only player to hit 50 or more fours in a Test innings. His 238 runs in boundaries are also a record.

# Sir Don Bradman with his 304 became the first player to score 2 Triple Centuries in Test Cricket. Both were scored at the same venue and against same opponent.

# Graham Gooch scored 333 runs in first innings and 123 runs in second innings of the match against India at Lord’s. His aggregate of 456 runs is the highest by any player in Test Cricket. Only two other players Mark Taylor (426) and Brian Lara (400) have managed to score over 400 runs in a Test match.

# Graham Gooch is the only player to score a Triple Century in Test Cricket at Lord’s, the Home of Cricket.

# Brian Lara broke the long-standing record of 36 years of Sobers’ 365* by scoring 375 runs in 1994.

# Sanath Jayasuriya during his 340 runs involved in a partnership of 576 runs for the 2nd wicket with Roshan Mahanama (225). This was then the record for highest partnership in Test Cricket. Later broke by their teammates Jayawardene and Sangakkara.

# Mark Taylor scored 334* and refused to break the Australian Record for most runs in a Test Innings in tribute to Sir Don Bradman who held the record with 334 runs.

# Matthew Hayden overcame Brian Lara’s 375 by scoring 380 against Zimbabwe in 2004.

# Virender Sehwag became the first Indian to score a Triple Century when he scored 309 vs Pakistan in 2004

# Brian Lara once again overcame the record by scoring the first ever Quadruple century in Test Cricket, 400*.

# Mahela Jayawardene during his 374 had a huge partnership of 624 runs for the 3rd wicket with Kumar Sangakkara (287), which is a record for highest partnership for any wicket in Test Cricket.

#  Virender Sehwag scored another Triple Century, this time in just 268 balls against South Africa. He has the record for fastest Triple Century in Test Cricket. He became the 3rd batsman after Bradman and Lara to score 2 Triple Centuries in Test Cricket.

# Chris Gayle scored 333 runs against Sri Lanka in 2010 and became the 4th batsman to score 2 Triple Centuries in Test Cricket.

# Hashim Amla became the first South African to score a Triple Century in Test Cricket.

# New Zealand is the only team among top 8 ranked team to have no player who scored Triple Century in Test Cricket. Highest by a NZ batsman is 299 by Martin Crowe. 

# No Triple Centuries have been scored against Bangladesh in Test Cricket. Highest score against Bangladesh is 261* by Ramnaresh Sarwan in 2004.

Team wise analysis of Triple Centuries in Test Cricket

7 – Australia

6 – West Indies

5 – England

3 – Pakistan

2 – India/Sri Lanka

1 – South Africa

Opposition wise analysis of Triple Centuries in Test Cricket

8 – England

3 – India/South Africa/Pakistan/New Zealand

2 – West Indies/Sri Lanka

1 – Australia/Zimbabwe

So far 22 batsmen have managed to score triple century in test cricket. Who do you think will be the next to score a triple century in test cricket ?