Cricket is undoubtedly a batsman’s game, and the sport’s rule favours the batters. The thing that adds beauty to Test match cricket is the patience and perseverance with which the batters play, especially in the initial phase of 1st day’s play. It is almost an unwritten rule in the game of cricket that the team batting first has to bat for an extended period and make the opposition bowlers toil hard so that it becomes doubly challenging for them to make a comeback.
But there are many instances where the side batting first takes much time out of the game, and the Test match ends in a high-scoring draw as the pitch does not offer much to the bowlers. On other occasions, the team batting 2nd makes a match out of the contest and proceeds to be a thriller, and a few other times, there would be no coming back for the side bowling first.
To know the list of lowest 1st innings scores in the format, check here.
Here we will sneak peek at 10 of the highest first innings totals of a Test match in its 135+ years history.
Highest 1st Innings Totals in Test Cricket
| Team | 1st Inns Total | Against | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 903/7d | Australia | The Oval | 20 Aug 1938 |
| England | 849 | West Indies | Kingston | 3 Apr 1930 |
| West Indies | 751/5d | England | St John’s | 10 Apr 2004 |
| Australia | 735/6d | Zimbabwe | Perth | 9 Oct 2003 |
| Pakistan | 708 | England | The Oval | 6 Aug 1987 |
| India | 705/7d | Australia | Sydney | 2 Jan 2004 |
| Australia | 701 | England | The Oval | 18 Aug 1934 |
| West Indies | 687/8d | England | The Oval | 12 Aug 1976 |
| India | 687/6d | Bangladesh | Hyderabad | 9 Feb 2017 |
| West Indies | 681/8d | England | Port of Spain | 17 Mar 1954 |
Let’s look deep into the top 5 team totals made in Test cricket by teams.
#1 England – 903/7 vs Australia, 20th-24th August 1938, The Oval
It was the final Test match of the 1938 Ashes series, and Australia led the series 1-0 at the end of the 4th Test. England’s skipper Wally Hammond opted to bat first after winning the coin toss, and the English batters made merry on an excellent batting surface. On the back of a fantastic 364 from legendary Sir Leonard Hutton(a record that stood there for 20 years as the highest individual score in Tests) and centuries from Maurice Leyland(187) & Joe Hardstaff(169), the hosts reached a mammoth 903 after batting out for 335 overs. The Aussies could score only 201, and 123 from both the innings as their star batsman Sir Don Bran didn’t come out to bat.
England won the game by an innings & 573 runs and levelled the series 1-1. 903 by England stood as a record until broken by Sri Lanka, who made 952/6 vs India at Colombo in 1997, but it came in the 2nd innings of the Test match.
#2 England – 849 vs West Indies, 3rd-12th April 1930, Kingston
It was an era where the final Test of the series was played as a Timeless Test, and this game lasted for 7 full days with rest days & rain-affected days in between. Batting first, England scored a whopping 849 runs on the board(the then highest total) thanks to a sensational 325 from Andy Sandham and 149 from Les Ames. West Indies fought well to save the Test in the 4th innings of the Test match after being set an improbable target of 836 runs.
They finished at 404/5 after batting out close to 169 overs, and the 4-match series was drawn 1-1.
#3 West Indies – 751/5 vs England, 10th-14th April 2004, St John’s
This Test match witnessed one of the historic moments in Test cricket. The then West Indies captain Brian Lara became the first and only batsman to breach 400 run mark in Tests. Lara overtook Matthew Hayden’s score of 380 to reach this astonishing milestone, and his record remains intact. Talking of the match, the West Indies made 751/5 and put immense pressure on England as they bowled them out for 285 in the 1st innings.
However, a stubborn knock of 140 England captain Michael Vaughan helped them salvage a draw in that inconsequential Test and win the 4-match series 3-0.
