Cricket Facts and Records: First in Test Cricket

Cricket is being played since 16th century. The sources have found evidence that the first instance of the game “Cricket” was recorded way back around 1550 in Surrey in England. It was first said as children’s game but in 1610 it was found that even adults played it. Then the game slowly gained popularity in England during the 17th and 18th centuries. After major developments Cricket became the National Game of England and hence it is always referred as Englishmen were the ones to start this Sport. The first ever International match was played between USA and Canada in 1844.

Drawing of the First International Cricket Match – USA vs CAN, 1844

Test Cricket is the first format of Cricket, which began in late 1877. After almost a century, in 1971 the second format was introduced the One Day Internationals. Test Cricket is played for 5 days while One Day Internationals (ODI) are limited over games which are played in one day. In the 21st century, the latest format known as Twenty20 was introduced in 2005.

Lets have a brief look at all the events, milestones and records which occurred first in the Test Cricket

First in Cricket (Test Cricket)

Records of Teams

First Test Match 

The first ever test match was played on 15th March 1877 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground between Australia and England. Australia won the match by 45 runs.

Highest 'Second Highest' score in an Inning in ODIs and T20Is

Highest 'Second Highest' score in an Inning in ODIs (125 or more)

Score – Batsman – Highest Run getter – Match – Venue – Match Date

161 - Hamish Marshall - 166 Brendon McCullum – NZ vs Ire – Aberdeen - 01 Jul 2008

153 - Rahul Dravid - 186* Sachin Tendulkar – Ind vs NZ – Hyderabad – 08 Nov 1999

148 - Aaron Finch - 151 Shaun Marsh – Aus vs Sco – Edinburgh – 03 Sep 2013

145 - Rahul Dravid - 183 Sourav Ganguly – Ind vs SL – Taunton – 26 May 1999

134 - Aamer Sohail - 137 Inzamam-ul-Haq – Pak vs NZ – Sharjah – 20 Apr 1994

133 - Upul Tharanga - 144 Tillakaratne Dilshan – SL vs Zim – Pallekele – 10 Mar 2011

125 - Graeme Smith/AB de Villiers – SA vs SL – Johannesburg – 22 Jan 2012

Highest 3^rd highest score in an ODI Inning is Ricky Ponting’s 91 for Aus vs SA at St.Kitts, 2007 where the highest score was Hayden’s 101 and second highest was M Clarke’s 92

Highest second highest score in an ODI Match is Ricky Ponting’s 164 for Aus vs SA at Johannesburg, 2006 where the highest score was Herschelle Gibbs’ 175.  

Notes:

# Among the above 7 occasions of 2 batsmen scoring 125 or more in the same ODI inning 3 occasions are by both the openers – McCullum/Marshall, Dilshan/Tharanga and Finch/Marsh.

# 125 by AB de Villiers/G Smith is the highest identical score achieved by 2 batsmen in the same ODI inning. Next highest is 103 by Gambhir/Yuvraj vs SL, Ahmedabad, 2005.

Highest 'Second Highest' score in an Inning in in T20Is (65 or more)

Score – Batsman – Highest Run getter – Match – Venue – Match Date

88 – Graeme Smith – 94 Loots Bosman – SA vs Eng – Centurion – 15 Nov 2009

74 – Tillakaratne Dilshan – 81 Sanath Jayasuriya – SL vs WI – Nottingham – 10 Jun 2009

73 – Salman Butt/Kamran Akmal – Pak vs Ban – St Lucia – 01 May 2010

68 – Kumar Sangakkara – 98 Mahela Jayawardene – Bridgetown – 07 May 2010

68 – Alex Hales – 71 Eoin Morgan – Eng vs WI – Pallekele – 27 Sep 2012

65 – Mahela Jayawardene – 88 Sanath Jayasuriya – SL vs Ken – Johannesburg – 14 Sep 2007

Highest 3^rd highest score in a T20I inning is 58 by Gambhir/Yuvraj where the highest score was 68 by Sehwag vs Eng, Durban, 2007. It is the only T20 inning with 3 batsmen scoring 50+ scores.

Highest 2^nd highest score in a T20I match is 90. It has been achieved twice. First by Gibbs vs WI, Johannesburg, 2007 where the highest was Gayle’s 117. Second by Joe Root vs Aus, where the highest was Finch’s 156. 

Check the corresponding list for ODIs and T20
Highest '2nd Highest' score in an Inning in
http://cricketseervistats.blogspot.in/2013/09/highest-second-highest-score-in-inning_11.html

Highest 'Second Highest' score in an Inning in Tests

Highest 'Second Highest' score in an Inning in Tests

Score – Batsman – Highest Run getter – Match – Venue – Match Date

287 - Kumar Sangakkara - 374 Mahela Jayawardene – SL vs SA – Colombo – 27 Jul 2006

260 - Conrad Hunte - 365* Garry Sobers – WI vs Pak – Kingston – 26 Feb 1958

249 - Marvan Atapattu - 270 Kumar Sangakkara – Pak vs Zim – Bulawayo – 14 May 2004

244 - Don Bradman - 266 Bill Ponsford – Aus vs Eng – The Oval – 18 Aug 1934

234 - Syd barnes/Don Bradman – Aus vs Eng – Sydney – 13 Dec 1946

231 - Mudassar Nazar - 280* Javed Miandad – Pak vs Ind – Hyderabad – 14 Jan 1983

231 - Thilan Samaraweera - 240 Mahela Jayawardene – SL vs Pak – Karachi – 21 Feb 2009

226 - Neil McKenzie - 232 Graeme Smith – SA vs Ban – Chittagong – 29 Feb 2008

225 - Roshan Mahanama - 340 Sanath Jayasuriya – SL vs Ind – Colombo (RPS) – 02 Aug 1997        

210 - Michale Clarke - 221 Ricky Ponting – Aus vs Ind – Adelaide – 24 Jan 2012

203*- Javed Miandad - 206 Qasim Umar – Pak vs SL – Faisalabad – 16 Oct 1985

203*- Shivnarine Chanderpaul - 213 Wavell Hinds – WI vs Sa – Georgetown – 31 Mar 2005

201 - Bob Simpson – 210 Bill Lawry – Aus vs WI – Bridgetown – 05 May 1965

201 - Graeme Flower - 207 Mike Gatting – Eng vs Ind – Chennai – 13 Jan 1985

200*- Inzamam-ul-Haq - 211 Izaz Ahmed – Pak vs SL – Dhaka – 12 Mar 1999

200*- VVS Laxman - 206 Gautam Gambhir – Ind vs Aus – Delhi – 29 Oct 2008

The highest 3^rd highest score in a test inning is J Hardstaff jnr’s 169 for Eng vs Aus, The Oval, 1938 where the highest score was L Hutton’s 364 and second highest score was M Leyland’s 187.

Kumar Sangakkara’s 287 is also the highest second highest score in a Test match.

Notes:
# 365 was Sobers’ maiden test century – Highest Maiden Test Century.

# Bill Ponsford was playing last test of his career. Only 4 others managed to score a double century in last test of their career – 325 A Sandham, 258 SM Nurse, 206 PA de Silva, 201* JN Gillespie.

# Lawry/Simpson and G Smith/N McKenzie are the only opening pairs to score double century in the same test inning.

# 234 by Don Bradman/Syd Barnes is the highest identical score achieved by two batsmen in the same test inning. Next highest is 136 by Chanderpaul/Hooper vs Ind, Antigua, 2002.

Players reaching their Double Century in a Test with a SIX

Mahela Jayawardene brought up his double century in Tests at Dhaka on 29th January 2014 with a six of the Bangladesh bowler Nasir Hossain. He cleared the mid wicket boundary when he was on 197 to reach 203*.This was the 12th time a batsman reached the double century with a Six in Test Cricket. 

Mahela Jayawardene achieved the feat for the third time while no other batsman achieve it more than once. He had reached his double century with a Six against South Africa at Galle in 2004 where he ended up at 237. The second time was in his special knock of 374 also against South Africa at Colombo in 2006. He hit the six when he was on 199 in both the previous occasions. 

Only player to reach 3 Double Centuries with a Six in Tests

Here is the list of Batsman who reached their Double Century with a Six in Tests

#1 Javed Miandad (Pak)
280* vs Ind, Hyderabad, Jan 1983

#2 Gordon Greenidge (WI)
214* vs Eng, Lord's, Jun 1984 

#3 Wasim Akram (Pak)
257* vs Zim, Sheikhpura, Oct 1996

#4 Marvan Atapattu (SL)
223 vs Zim, Kandy, Jan 1998

#5 Mathew Sinclair (NZ)
204* vs Pak, Christchurch, Mar 2001

#6 Mohammad Yousuf (Pak)
204* vs Ban, Chittagong, Jan 2002

#7 Mahela Jayawardene (SL)
237 vs SA, Galle, Aug 2004 

#8 Sanath Jayasuriya (SL)
253 vs Pak, Faisalabad, Oct 2004 

#9 Justin Langer
215 vs NZ, Adelaide, Nov 2004

#10 Mahela Jayawardene
374 vs SA, Colombo (SSC), Jul 2006

#11 Younis Khan
200* vs Zim, Harare, Sep 2013

#12 Mahela Jayawardene
203* vs Ban, Dhaka, Jan 2014

Sehwag is the only player to complete his triple century in Tests with a Six !