Highest Run Partnerships in Test
Test Cricket is hailed as the most difficult format in cricket. Perseverance and patience are two crucial elements that are needed to excel as a batsman in the longest format of the game. It isn’t 20-over per side game where one batsman could win the game for your side. You need to build big partnership and put up big totals on the board.
Partnerships are necessary to get hold of the game and to bring the opposition on the backfoot. Over the years, we have seen a lot of big partnerships being made on the cricket ground in Test Cricket. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara’s epic partnership is yet to slip from the number one position in the list of highest run partnerships in Test cricket. In this article, we look at the top 5 of those:
#5 Javed Miandad and Mudassar Nazar (451 Runs)
Javed Miandad and Mudassar Nazar are hailed as two of the finest cricketers ever played for Pakistan. While Nazar played as an opener, Miandad was a solid middle-order batsman. The duo holds the record of putting on the fifth-highest run partnership in Test cricket. They achieved the feat in the game against India in 1983. After 2 wickets for 60, Miandad and Nazar ensured that they won’t lose more wickets in the innings. Javed Miandad scored 280 runs off just 460 balls, while Mudassar Nazar piled on 231 runs off just 444 balls.
#4 WH Ponsford and Don Bradman (451 Runs)
The Australian pair of Ponsford and Bradman sits fourth in the list highest run partnership in T20 cricket. The duo put on a record partnership of 452 runs against England at The Oval stadium in 1934. Ponsford amassed 266 runs off 422 balls, while Bradman scored 244 off just 271 balls as Australia posted a mammoth 701 runs total in the first innings. Australia won that game by 562 runs.
#3 Andrew Jones and Martin Crowe (477 Runs)
477 runs are what the New Zealand pair of Andrew Jones and Martin Crowe combined together to score against Sri Lanka in Wellington. After making just 174 runs in the first innings, the duo helped their team make a remarkable comeback in the game and saved the match from losing. The historic partnership saw Andrew Jones scoring 186 runs off 454 balls, while Martin Crowe amassed 299 runs off 523 balls.
#2 Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama (565 Runs)
The first Test between India and Sri Lanka during India’s tour of Sri Lanka in 1997 saw Sri Lanka put up a record 952 run-total. The chief architects of the total were Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama.
The southpaw scored a record 340 runs off 578 balls, while the former amassed 225 in 561 balls. The game eventually ended in a tie but the game will always be remembered because of the epic partnership between the two.
#1 Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara (624 Runs)
Who would forget the epic partnership between Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara for the third wicket against South Africa in 2006? The bowler tried everything but nothing could affect the lethal partnership between the two of the greats of the game.
The duo stitched together a record 624-run partnership, making it the highest run partnership in Test Cricket. Mahela Jayawardene scored a massive 374 runs in the innings, while Sangakkara too played an outstanding knock of 287 runs off 457 balls.
