5 fastest Test Innings of all time
For those used to watching batsmen block their way to monotony, nothing makes for better viewing than a batting performance that defies the nature of the competition. While the ODI and T-20 cabinets have such performances aplenty, a slam-bang Test innings is nonetheless a rarity; for taking into account all 13876 fifty plus scores in Test history, only 308 (2.2%) were scored at a strike rate in excess of 100.
In this list, we list down the 5 fastest test innings (scores in excess of 50) of all time, played in defiance of the mould that this format is played in.
#5 Sir Vivian Richards
110*(56) (7x4, 7x6) - S/R 189.7 vs England (Antigua 1986)
Riding on the back of an Ashes triumph, England came to the West Indian shores expecting to give the hosts a tough fight and in no mood to let the black-wash of 1984 repeat itself. Little did they know that West Indies were also in no mood to let the Englishmen taste success. Although England did have their moment in a brilliant ODI win, results in the Test matches were all too familiar.
Headed to Antigua for the 5th Test, battered and bruised as they were, England would have hoped that with the series in the kitty, West Indies would be a bit lenient in their aggression. But they were wrong; for to expect a certain Vivian Richards to let off in a game at his home ground was like expecting thundershowers in the Atacama.
Having conceded a lead of 164 in the first innings, England were at the receiving end of a breathtaking assault by the king. Smashing one-handed sixes, Richards seemed like he was just amusing himself as he strode to the then fastest Test hundred (56 balls), a record he held on to for nearly 30 years.