Shoaib Malik made the first score of 245 and Alastair Cook made the first 263 in Test cricket history

Alastair Cook (L) and Shoaib Malik (R) scored double centuries for their sides in the first Test

The dramatic first Test between Pakistan and England at Abu Dhabi had some interesting records and numbers to remember for. Few of those were – Shoaib Malik making a comeback after more than five years into Pakistan’s test side and smashing a double century; Adil Rashid going wicket-less conceding 163 runs in the first innings and then picking up a five-for in the second innings; Alastair Cook’s long and patient innings of 263 runs and more of these kinds.

But there were two quite interesting and unique figures. Shoaib Malik scored 245 and Alastair Cook 263 – both these scores were never made by batsmen previously in the whole Test cricket history of around 138 years. There are more than 300 double centuries scored in Test cricket, but the scores 245 and 263 were some of the figures on which no batsman has ended his innings or remained not out.

However, there are two lower scores than 245 which are yet to be made by batsmen – 229 and 238. These are the only two scores of less than 250 runs which are not yet made by batsmen in Tests.

Number of instances of each score between 200 and 250 in Tests by batsmen

Score	Total	Out	Not Out
200	17	6	11
201	21	13	8
202	7	5	2
203	17	7	10
204	9	5	4
205	9	7	2
206	14	12	2
207	6	5	1
208	7	6	1
209	6	5	1
210	7	6	1
211	6	5	1
212	4	4	0
213	7	6	1
214	8	5	3
215	4	4	0
216	5	3	2
217	6	4	2
218	2	2	0
219	6	6	0
220	3	3	0
221	5	5	0
222	5	3	2
223	9	8	1
224	6	6	0
225	3	3	0
226	8	8	0
227	3	3	0
228	1	1	0
229	0	0	0
230	3	2	1
231	5	4	1
232	6	5	1
233	2	2	0
234	3	3	0
235	4	2	2
236	3	2	1
237	3	3	0
238	0	0	0
239	2	2	0
240	3	3	0
241	1	0	1
242	5	3	2
243	1	1	0
244	1	1	0
245	1	1	0
246	1	0	1
247	1	0	1
248	1	0	1
249	1	1	0
250	3	3	0

• The lowest score not yet made by batsmen in Tests is 229. 238 is the other score yet to be made of less than 250 runs.
• Lowest score made only once is 228.
• Interesting to see that there have been 8 scores of 226, 3 scores of 227, 3 scores of 230, 5 scores of 231 and 6 scores of 232 but 228 and 229 are quite unique. 228 has been made only once (by Herschelle Gibbs) and 229 hasn’t been made yet.
• On the score of exactly 200, there have been more not outs than outs. It is understandable that many times a declaration is made once a batsman who is nearing his century or double century completes the milestone.
• Also on the scores of 241, 246, 278 and 248 were made only once which were all not outs (two of those by Sachin Tendulkar).
• Lowest score at which no batsman has remained not out is in fact 140. 167 and 175 are the other two scores of less than 200 runs where no batsman has remained not out.

Some trivia:

• Highest score made twice in Tests is 334 – both by Aussies Don Bradman and Mark Taylor. Also the predecessor score 333 has been made twice – by Graham Gooch and Chris Gayle.
• Highest score made thrice in Tests is 275 – by Daryll Cullinan, Gary Kirsten and Mahela Jayawardene.
• Highest score made four times in Tests is 270 – by Donald Bradman, George Headley, Rahul Dravid and Kumar Sangakkara.
• Highest score made five times in Tests is 242 – by Doug Walters, Clyde Walcott, Mahela Jayawardene, Ricky Ponting and Kane Williamson.

In ODIs:

The lowest score not yet made in ODIs is 155. The interesting thing here is there have been 5 scores of 156 and 3 scores of 154 but not yet a 155. There have been 8 scores of 153 and 6 scores of 152 but 155 lies untouched.

The highest score in ODIs at which no batsman has remained not out is 148. There have been three 148s - all dismissals.