PAK vs ENG 2024: What is the highest team total in Test history?
England have pulled off a marathon effort in their first innings of the first Test against Pakistan at the Multan Cricket Stadium by piling one of the highest scores the sport has ever seen. A triple hundred by Harry Brook and a double century by Joe Root helped the visitors eclipse the 556 run total posted by Pakistan across the first two days.
Helped by a lifeless pitch, England recovered from 4/1 without any trouble to pile misery on the Pakistan bowlers. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett helped themselves to quickfire fifties to keep England well in the game. However, it was a mammoth record partnership between Joe Root and Harry Brook that helped England push Pakistan out of the contest.
The Ollie Pope-led side have managed to build a situation from where it is almost impossible for them to lose. The onus is on the bowlers to claim 10 wickets to script a famous win, with one and a half days of play still left to be played.
While England put on a Herculean effort with the bat, it is still neither the highest score ever witnessed in the format nor the highest team total recorded by the nation.
The record of highest Test team total of all-time still rests safely with Sri Lanka, who had amassed a historic 952/7 against India during the first Test in 1997 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The Arjuna Ranatunga-led side batted for a total of 271 overs to reach close to the four-figure mark, while Sanath Jayasuriya recorded a triple hundred. The contest had inevitably ended in a draw.
England declare after posting 823/7 in the first Test
England's 823/7 decl. after playing out just 150 overs, marks their third-highest score in Test cricket. The country has produced scores like 903/7 and 849 in the 1930s, which remain untouched as the second and the third highest all-time scores respectively.
England's Multan heroics also mark the first time that the 800-run mark has been breached since 1997. The visitors have amassed a lead of 267 courtesy of their quick scoring effort, and have made a contest out of it.