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Highest identical scores in both innings of a Test

Duleep Mendis scored 105 in each innings of a Test against India.

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Sachin Tendulkar had scored 52 in each innings of the Kolkata Test against Pakistan in 2005 © Getty Images (File Photo)
Sachin Tendulkar scored 52 in each innings of the Kolkata Test against Pakistan in 2005 © Getty Images (File Photo)

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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