The Pink Ball Tests are a variant of the sport’s traditional format, Test cricket. As the name suggests, these Test matches are played as a day-night fixture and with a pink ball rather than a red ball. With the game being played in the twilight phase under lights, it presents the batters with a different type of challenge with regard to scoring runs, adding to the unpredictable nature of the game.
So, the batters’ run-making becomes challenging and tricky, especially in the twilight phase of the day. But as the batters gain experience, they get acclimatised to these conditions and score runs freely. Here we will see the batters with the most runs in Pink Ball Tests.
| Player | Innings | Runs | Average | Highest score |
| Marnus Labuschagne (AUS) | 14 | 894 | 63.85 | 163 |
| Steven Smith (AUS) | 21 | 760 | 40.00 | 130 |
| David Warner (AUS) | 17 | 753 | 47.06 | 335* |
| Travis Head (AUS) | 12 | 543 | 49.36 | 175 |
| Usman Khawaja (AUS) | 13 | 516 | 39.69 | 145 |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 13 | 501 | 38.53 | 136 |
| Azhar Ali (PAK) | 8 | 474 | 67.71 | 302* |
| Asad Shafiq (PAK) | 8 | 401 | 50.12 | 137 |
| Dimuth Karuratne (SL) | 6 | 341 | 56.83 | 196 |
| Alastair Cook (ENG) | 5 | 303 | 60.60 | 243 |
Key Stats
214: This is the number of players featured in at least one day-night Test match, and 206 of them have scored a single run in this form of Test cricket.
21: Steven Smith has batted the most times in a day-night Test match, followed by David Warner & Mitchell Starc, who have played 17 innings each.
894: Marnus Labuschagne’s tally of runs is the highest by any batter in the history of Pink Ball Tests. He, and his fellow Australian batters Steven Smith, Warner, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, and England’s Joe Root, are the only six to have scored over 500 runs in a day-night Test fixture.
Dimuth Karunaratne with 341 runs is the next active cricketer who could surpass the 500-run tally in Pink Ball Tests. He is followed by Mitchell Starc, who has 297 runs, and Virat Kohli (297 runs).
4: Labuschagne has struck the most centuries in a Pink Ball Test match, followed by Travis Head, Asad Shafiq, and Karunaratne, who have scored two tons each. Overall, 20 batters have scored at least a century in a day-night Test. Only three batters have scored a double-century in a day-night Test match: Warner, Azhar Ali, & Alastair Cook.
101.50: Darren Barvo’s batting average in day-night Tests is the best when it comes to batters with at least 200 or more runs, and next up is Azhar Ali’s 67.71 in this type of Test.
Read: Most Runs in BGT Tournaments
