As fans of the beautiful game, we will never forget Yuvraj Singh’s magical over against Stuart Broad in the ICC World T20 in 2007 or Chris Gayle’s destruction of the opposition bowlers in the Indian Premier League. Over the past few years, we have seen a lot of big overs in ODI and T20 cricket in terms of runs scored off one over. There is always a record which is broken during every second or third limited-overs match.
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But what about Test cricket?
It is not often that we see batsmen score with a high strike rate in a test match. The norm is usually to pace their innings slowly and achieve a high score. There have been a few exceptions to this particular norm over the past few years. Since the inception of T20 cricket, we have seen batsmen change their style of batting in test matches as well; the result of which, the average strike rate of batsmen has considerably increased.
In this article, we look at those batsmen who broke the record of maximum runs scored off one over in Test cricket.
#5 26 runs (Suranga Lakmal to Brendon Mccullum – 55th over, 1st innings)
Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand, 1st Test match, Christchurch, 2014-15)
For the past couple of years, Sri Lanka have been in a transitional phase as a lot of new cricketers have come into the fray for them. Since Kumar Sangakarra and Mahela Jayawardene’s retirement from international cricket, they have not looked the strong and composed side they once were.
Their tour of New Zealand at the end of the calendar year in 2014 gave us a glimpse of their apparent downfall as they had a string of poor results since then.
During the first test at Christchurch, New Zealand were going strong at 212-4 in the 1st innings when Jimmy Neesham joined the captain – Brendon McCullum at the crease. The duo performed as though they were playing a limited-overs match as they counter-attacked the Sri Lankan bowling by hitting them all over the park. McCullum went on to score a quick-fire century off 74 balls and did not look to slow down his innings.
During the 55th over of the innings, Suranga Lakmal had been brought back into the attack to try and remove McCullum. Unfortunately, the tactic did not work as McCullum hit three sixes and two fours in what turned out to be the joint 5th biggest over in Test cricket in terms of most runs scored off one over. McCullum fell agonisingly short of scoring the fastest double-century in Test cricket as he was dismissed for 195.
New Zealand went on to win the match with ease as they thrashed the Lankans by 8 wickets. They eventually went on to win the series as well, winning the 2nd test match by 193 runs.
#4 26 runs (Danish Kaneria to Brian Lara – 84th over, 1st innings)
West Indies tour of Pakistan, 1st Test, Multan, Pakistan, 2006-07
In his penultimate test match, Brian Lara turned back the clock as he scored a magnificent double-hundred against Pakistan at Multan. It was the 2nd test match of the 3 match series which Pakistan ended up winning 2-0.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first in the first innings, Pakistan scored 357 in their first innings thanks to three half-centuries at the top order. West Indies replied in superb fashion with their top order leading the way as they went on to take a 234 run lead towards the end of the third day. Fans were treated to a gem of an innings as Lara went on to score his ninth double hundred in Test cricket.
He was in an aggressive mood as he did not spare the Pakistani bowlers as he went on to score a rapid century off 79 balls. His route to his century included a 26 run over which came off Danesh Kaneria’s bowling. The over included three huge sixes and two fours. By doing so, that particular over became the fourth biggest over in test cricket, until McCullum equalled the record.
West Indies cricket is currently in a lot of turmoil as their head coach Phil Simmons was recently sacked and star player Andre Russell is going to face a hearing in court which might hand him a two-year ban. Over the past few years, the West Indies test team has suffered a downfall, but on the other hand, their T20 side has been in brilliant form as they are the only team to have won 2 T20 World Cups.
#3 27 runs (Harbhajan Singh to Shahid Afridi – 136th over, 1st innings)
India tour of Pakistan, 1st Test, Multan, Pakistan 2006-07
A year after India won a historic test series against Pakistan away from home, they were looking to make it two in two as they travelled to Pakistan for another series at the beginning of 2006.
On a pitch which provided absolutely nothing to the bowlers, more than 1000 runs were scored and only 8 wickets were lost over the course of 5 days. Pakistan, who chose to bat after winning the toss went on to score a massive total of 657.
As most of their batsmen played a slow and steady knock, Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akmal had ideas of their own as they counter-attacked the Indian bowling to produce an aggressive partnership of 170 runs in 126 balls. Both - Afridi and Akmal went on to score a century in 80 balls each. Afridi went on to hit 7 sixes in his innings of 103.
Out of the 7 sixes, four of them came in the 136th over which was bowled by Harbhajan Singh. Out of the four sixes, two of them were over deep midwicket, one straight over the bowler’s head and one went over the square leg boundary. Alas, he was not able to smash the final two deliveries for six. He managed a total of 27 runs which turned out to be the 3rd highest ever.
The Indian cricket team have not travelled to Pakistan since then due to national tension between the two countries.
#2 28 runs (James Anderson vs George Bailey – 87th over)
The Ashes, 3rd Test, Perth, Australia, 2013
After four years of torment, Australia responded in perfect fashion as they bruised and battered England to win back the Ashes urn in 2013. And the win came much earlier than expected as Australia took an unaissable 3-0 lead in the 5 match series by winning the Test match at Perth by 150 runs.
As they defeated the Englishmen by 150 runs, there were tears among the Australian players and fans, and it was evident how much the victory meant to them.
Mitchell Johnson’s reign of terror was the cause of the demise of the English batsmen throughout the series. The Englishmen had no answer to the blood-curdling display of world-class fast bowling.
Throughout the third test match, Australia looked the better team. After scoring a highly respectable total of 395 in their first innings, they bowled England out for 251 as the fast bowlers ripped through the English middle-order.
Australia were going strong in the 2nd innings as well, led by two amazing centuries by David Warner and Shane Watson. With the score being 340-6, Mitchell Johson joined George Bailey at the crease and England were looking to close out the innings by bowling the Australians out. Instead, George Bailey went on the counter as he smashed a James Anderson over for 28 runs, which to date is the joint biggest over in Test cricket in terms of maximum runs scored off one over.
His record-breaking over included three sixes and two fours. Out of the three sixes, one hit the side-screen, one was hit over long-on, and the third was over long off. Australia immediately decided to declare their innings after that and set England a target of 504 to achieve.
#1 28 runs (Robin Peterson to Brian Lara – 120th over)
West Indies tour of South Africa, 1st Test, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2003-04
There was not much to cheer for the West Indies team when they toured South Africa in 2003 for a four-match Test series. Brian Lara’s batting throughout the series turned out to be the lone high point for them as they were thrashed 3-0 in the four-match Test series.
Throughout the series, South Africa’s batsmen tormented the opposition bowlers, as multiple centuries were scored amongst the top order batsmen of South Africa. Their bowlers performed well too, as they did not allow the West Indies batsman to settle down at the crease.
The first Test at Johannesburg was just the trailer of what West Indies were to expect for the rest of the series. After opting to bat first, South Africa reached a majestic total of 561, thanks to brilliant centuries by Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis.
In their reply, the West Indies batsmen responded decently well, but were not at the level of South Africa’s batsmen. They were bowled out for 410 led by a superb double hundred by Brian Lara. Unfortunately, he did not have much support at the other end as Darren Ganga was the only other batsman to score a half-century.
During his superb knock, Brian Lara decided to take things a little quick just after crossing the 150 run mark. Robin Peterson was brought back into the attack in the hope of getting the maestro out, but Lara had other ideas in mind for the slow left-arm orthodox bowler. Taking the attack to Peterson, Lara smashed a record-breaking 28 runs in a single over by hitting 4 fours and 2 humongous sixes.
That particular over by Lara turned out to be the biggest over in test cricket at that time in terms of the number of runs scored. Unfortunately for the West Indies, he was soon dismissed after that, and the team soon lost their way as South Africa won the test match by 189 runs.
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