Two Batters Scoring Double Centuries in a same Test Innings

We all know Test cricket is a game of patience and there is a lot of time for a batter and team to score runs. Any of the team that plays the long format of the game will hope that some of their batters score big runs and occupy the crease for a long time. A big score means a big century from one of their frontline batter and a supporting act from the rest. This helps in just piling up a huge total on the board, making the best use of the batting conditions available, while also putting the opposition under tremendous pressure.

However, there are plenty of occasions in Test cricket, when we have witnessed more than one player scoring centuries, at times, both of them converting it into a big one. This allows no room for the opposition to come back and win the game. Here are 20 times where 2 players from a team scored a double century in the same Test innings.

PLAYERS	TEAM	INNINGS TOTAL	VS	VENUE, YEAR
William Ponsford (266), Don Bradman (244)	Australia	701	England	Oval, 1934
Don Bradman (234), Sydney Barnes (234)	Australia	659/8 dec	England	Sydney, 1946
Gary Sobers (365*), Conrad Hunte (260)	West Indies	790/3 dec	Pakistan	Kingston, 1958
Bill Lawry (210), Bob Simpson (201)	Australia	650/6 dec	West Indies	Barbados, 1965
Javed Miandad (280*), Mudassar Nazar (231)	Pakistan	581/3 dec	India	Hyderabad (Sind), 1983
Mike Gatting (207), Graeme Fowler (201)	England	652/7 dec	India	Chennai, 1985
Qasim Omar (206*), Javed Miandad (203)	Pakistan	555/3	Sri Lanka	Faisalabad, 1985
Sanath Jayasuriya (340), Roshan Mahanama (225)	Sri Lanka	952/6 dec	India	Colombo, 1997
Ijaz Ahmed (211), Inzamam-ul-Haq (200*)	Pakistan	594	Sri Lanka	Dhaka, 1999
Kumar Sangakkara (270), Marvan Atapattu (249)	Sri Lanka	713/3 dec	Zimbabwe	Bulawayo, 2004
Wavell Hinds(213), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (203*)	West Indies	543/5 dec	South Africa	Guyana, 2005
Mahela Jayawardene (374), Kumar Sangakkara (287)	Sri Lanka	756/5 dec	South Africa	Colombo, 2006
Graeme Smith (232), Neil Mckenzie (226)	South Africa	583/7 dec	Bangladesh	Chittagong, 2008
Gautam Gambhir (206), VVS Laxman (200*)	India	613/7 dec	Australia	Delhi, 2008
Mahela Jayawardene (240), Thilan Samaraweera (231)	Sri Lanka	644/7 dec	Pakistan	Karachi, 2009
Ricky Ponting (221), Michael Clarke (210)	Australia	604/7 dec	India	Adelaide, 2012
Marnus Labuschagne (204), Steve Smith (200*)	Australia	598/4 dec	West Indies	Perth, 2022
Kane Williamson (215), Henry Nicholls (200*)	New Zealand	580/4 dec	Sri Lanka	Wellington, 2023
Kusal Mendis (245), Nishan Madushka (205)	Sri Lanka	704/3 dec	Ireland	Galle, 2023
Harry Brook (317), Joe Root (262)	England	823/7 dec	Pakistan	Multan, 2024

Key Stats

4 – Number of players who make it to this elite list more than once. Sir Don Bradman, perhaps the greatest Test batter of all time is a common name in the first two instances of 2 players scoring double tons in a single innings.

The other 3 are former Pakistan skipper Javed Miandad and the Lankan duo of Mahela Jayawardene & Kumar Sangakkara. Both of these former Sri Lanka captains have scored a double century each in the same innings together once and their other one came with different partners.

952/6 dec – This is the highest total ever posted in Test cricket history (check top ten here) and it was by Sri Lanka in 1997 against India at Colombo. In the same innings, Sanath Jayasuriya hammered 340, while his partner-in-crime Roshan Mahanama made 225.

823/7 dec – Likewise, the fourth highest total posted by a team (England) Test cricket, saw Harry Brook and Joe Root recording their respective double tons.

4 – Number of instances where one of the batters had converted their double into a triple century. The players are Gary Sobers, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, and Harry Brook.

5 – Out of the 20 instances listed here, Sri Lanka and Australia batters have been in the thick of things on five occasions each. Pakistan comes next with 3 times, while West Indies and England batters have done it twice each.