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Highest run chase in Test cricket history: Top 10 highest run chase in Test matches

Gurpreet Singh
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Highest run chase in Test cricket history: Top 10 highest run chase in Test matches

Highest run chase in Test cricket history: Handy contributions from middle and lower-middle order has placed Sri Lanka on advantage in Galle.

A century from Dhananjaya De Silva (109), coupled with handy contributions from skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (61) and Ramesh Mendis (45) in the lower-middle order, helped Sri Lanka post 360/8 in their second innings, and thereby hand Pakistan a near improbable target of 508 runs to achieve in mere four sessions of the Test.

At Stumps on Day 4, Pakistan needed another 419 runs for victory with 9 wickets in hand, and the scorecard reading 89/1. Pakistan’s in-form skipper Babar Azam (26*) and left-hander Imam-ul-Haq (46*) were out there in the middle, as bad light made sure that there was an early call for Stumps for the second consecutive day.

While Pakistan did manage to nail the highest successful run-chase at the Galle International Stadium during the first Test, they are highly likely to go for a draw this time around, with the target much more steeper.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will have to sweat it out to breach the Pakistani batters’ defense, and manage to avoid a Test series loss at home.

Highest run chase in Test cricket history

Pakistan will have to do the unprecedented to script history tomorrow at Galle, as the highest successful target which has been chased down in Test match history is 418, by the West Indies versus Australia in the year 2003.

In fact, Pakistan’s highest successful run-chase in Test match history came against Sri Lanka itself in the year 2015, when they chased down the target of 377 in Pallekele.

Top 10 highest run chase in Test matches

YearTeamTargetScoreOppositionVenue
2003West Indies418418/7AustraliaAntigua Recreation Ground
2008South Africa414414/4AustraliaWACA Ground
1948Australia404404/3EnglandHeadingley
1976India403406/4West IndiesQueen’s Park Oval
2021West Indies395395/7BangladeshZahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium
2017Sri Lanka388391/6ZimbabweR Premadasa Stadium
2008India387387/4EnglandMA Chidambaram Stadium
2022England378378/3IndiaEdgbaston
2015Pakistan377382/3Sri LankaPallekele International Cricket Stadium
1999Australia369369/6PakistanBellerive Oval

About the author

Gurpreet Singh

Gurpreet Singh

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Gurpreet Singh is a Cricket writer at The Sportsrush. His platonic relationship with sports had always been there since childhood, but Cricket managed to strike a special, intimate nerve of his heart. Although his initial dream of playing the sport at the highest level couldn't come to fruition, Gurpreet did represent the state of Jharkhand at the under-14 level. However, almost like taking a pledge to never let the undying passion for Cricket fade away even a tad, he made sure to continue the love relationship by assigning the field of journalism as an indirect Cupid. He thus, first finished his bachelor's in journalism and then pursued the PG Diploma course in English journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). Soon after and since 2019, he has been working at The Sportsrush. Apart from sports, he takes keen interest in politics, and in understanding women and gender-related issues.

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