Scoring two fifties in the same Test is an achievement, but what about two identical fifties? Bharath Seervi lists down the instances when a batsman scored identical number of runs in both innings of a test match.
In Test cricket, there are some occasions when a batsman gets identical scores in both innings of the test. There are many occasions of a batsman registering a pair. In fact, there have been 515 pairs in Test cricket since 1877.
While we talk about identical scores in Test cricket, the lowest identical score is obviously zero. But what about the highest? The highest identical score by a batsman in both innings of a test match is 105 by Duleep Mendis against India at Chepauk in September 1982. It is the only occasion of identical hundreds in each innings of a Test. There are 20 occasions of identical fifties in each innings. Below is the list.
Identical 50+ scores in both innings of a Test match
Score
Batsman
For
Against
Venue
Season
105
Duleep Mendis
Sri Lanka
India
Chepauk
1982-83
80
Alvin Kallicharran
West Indies
England
The Oval
1973
79
Majid Khan
Pakistan
New Zealand
Wellington
1972-73
76
Ross Taylor
New Zealand
Zimbabwe
Bulawayo
2011-12
68*
Mark Dekker
Zimbabwe
Pakistan
Rawalpindi
1993-94
65
Frank Worrell
West Indies
Australia
The Gabba
1960-61
65
Tillakaratne Dilshan
Sri Lanka
India
Motera
2005-06
63
Everton Weekes
West Indies
England
Lord’s
1950
63
BJ Watling
New Zealand
South Africa
Port Elizabeth
2012-13
63*
Angelo Mathews
Sri Lanka
South Africa
Colombo (SSC)
2014
58
John Morrison
New Zealand
England
Eden Park
1974-75
56
Younis Khan
Pakistan
West Indies
Multan
2006-07
55
Vic Pollard
New Zealand
England
Lord’s
1965
55
Mark Richardson
New Zealand
Sri Lanka
Kandy
2003
55
Virender Sehwag
India
West Indies
Kotla
2011-12
54
Bevan Congdon
New Zealand
India
Eden Park
1975-76
52
Sachin Tendulkar
India
Pakistan
Eden Gardens
2004-05
52
Graeme Smith
South Africa
England
Headingley
2012
51
Graham Gooch
England
West Indies
St John’s
1986
50
Andrew Flintoff
England
India
Wankhede
2005-06
– The first batsman to achieve identical score of 50 or more in the each innings of a Test match was Everton Weekes against England at Lord’s in June 1950. It may come as unusual that there had been no such occurrence till then since the beginning of Test cricket in 1877.
– The list contains six batsmen from New Zealand.
– No batsman has scored identical fifties in a test match more than once.
– The only batsman to miss half century in both innings of a Test by one runs is Umar Akmal. He scored 49 in both innings of the Sydney Test in 2010.
(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SeerviBharath and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SeerviCricket)
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