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Highest run chase in Test cricket: What is the highest 4th innings run chase in Tests at Karachi National Stadium?

Dixit Bhargav
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Highest run chase in Test cricket: What is the highest 4th innings run chase in Tests at Karachi National Stadium?

Highest run chase in Test cricket: Pakistan need to score a mammoth 506 runs in order to win the second Test against Australia.

Australia scored just 16 runs in the four overs that they played on the fourth day of the ongoing second Test match against Pakistan in Karachi. It took Pakistan speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi to dismiss Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne (44) for captain Pat Cummins to declare the innings.

In the morning session itself, Pakistan opening batter Imam-ul-Haq (1) failed twice in a row after his twin centuries in Rawalpindi to provide his team with a horrible start to a mammoth 506-run chase.

A submissive batting strategy in the remainder of the session witnessed Pakistan scoring a total of 18 runs in 21 overs before players returned to their respective pavilions for lunch.

Needing as many as 488 runs in five sessions with nine wickets in hand to win this match, Pakistan will have to register one of their best fourth innings batting performance to both win or draw this match.

Highest run chase in Test cricket

The current record for highest fourth innings chase in Test cricket lies with West Indies, who had sealed a 418-run target against Australia in Antigua almost 19 years ago. The second-highest run-chase in Test cricket was achieved by South Africa when they had chased down a 414-run target in Perth over 13 years ago.

The record for the highest-ever fourth innings score rests with England, who had scored a mammoth 654/5 in a 696-run chase during their tour of South Africa in 1939 in Durban.

Speaking exclusive about Pakistan, their highest fourth innings total had come against Australia in Brisbane in 2016. Chasing a 490-run target, Pakistan had scored 450/10 in 145 overs on the back of batter Asad Shafiq arguably playing his level best to score 137 (207).

Pakistan’s highest successful fourth innings run chase had come a year ago than this when they had sealed a 377-run target with seven wicket in hand primarily due to individual centuries by Shan Masood (125) and Younis Khan (171*).

Highest 4th innings run chase in Karachi Tests

As far as the National Stadium is concerned, highest-ever fourth innings total (also the highest successful run chase) of 315/9 in 106.1 overs had also come in a Pakistan vs Australia Test match way back in 1994.

Other than this effort, Pakistan have only sealed a couple of 200+ successful run chases in Karachi Tests over the years. Hence, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that saving this match is near impossible for them.

TeamRunsOversOppositionYear
Pakistan315/9106.1Australia1994
Pakistan217/370Bangladesh2003
Pakistan202/260New Zealand1965
England176/441.3Pakistan2000
Pakistan164/224.5India1978

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Dixit Bhargav

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Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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