Twin Centuries is a cricketing term used when a batsman scores centuries in both 1st & 2nd innings of a Test match.
Warren Bardsley of Australia is the first batsman to score centuries in both innings of a Test match. In an Ashes Test in 1909, he scored 136 and 130 in the first and second innings of that drawn Test match against England in Kennington Oval, London.
Since then, there have been only 89 instances of a batsman scoring twin centuries in Test matches.
Also, it is astonishing that 14 batsmen have achieved this feat more than once in their cricketing career; 3 have done it thrice.
That’s exceptional.
Let’s get into the names of those cricketers who have scored multiple ‘Twin Centuries’ in Test cricket.
Most Twin Centuries in Test Cricket
| PLAYERS | TWIN CENTURIES | INCIDENT 1 | INCIDENT 2 | INCIDENT 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunil Gavaskar (IND) | 3 | 124 & 220 vs West Indies, Port of Spain (1971) | 111 & 137 vs Pakistan, Karachi (1978) | 107 & 182* vs West Indies, Kolkata (1978) |
| Ricky Ponting (AUS) | 3 | 149 & 104* vs West Indies, Brisbane (2005) | 120 & 143* vs South Africa, Sydney (2006) | 103 & 116 vs South Africa, Durban (2006) |
| David Warner (AUS) | 3 | 135 & 145 vs South Africa, Cape Town (2014) | 145 & 102 vs India, Adelaide (2014) | 163 & 116 vs New Zealand, Brisbane (2015) |
| George Headley (WI) | 2 | 114 & 112 vs England, Georgetown (1930) | 106 & 107 vs England, London (1939) | - |
| Herbert Sutcliffe (ENG) | 2 | 176 & 127 vs Australia, Melbourne (1925) | 104 & 109* vs South Africa, London (1929) | - |
| Clyde Walcott (WI) | 2 | 126 & 110 vs Australia, Port of Spain (1955) | 155 & 110 vs Australia, Kingston (1955) | - |
| Greg Chappell (AUS) | 2 | 247* & 133 vs New Zealand, Wellington (1974) | 123 & 109* vs West Indies, Brisbane (1975) | - |
| Allan Border (AUS) | 2 | 150* & 153 vs Pakistan, Lahore (1980) | 140 & 114* vs New Zealand, Christchurch (1986) | - |
| Aravinda de Silva (SL) | 2 | 138* & 103* vs Pakistan, Colombo (1997) | 146 & 120 vs India, Colombo (1997) | - |
| Rahul Dravid (IND) | 2 | 190 & 103* vs New Zealand, Wellington (1999) | 110 & 135 vs Pakistan, Kolkata (2005) | - |
| Matthew Hayden (AUS) | 2 | 197 & 103 vs England, Brisbane (2002) | 117 & 132 vs Sri Lanka, Cairns (2004) | - |
| Jacques Kallis (SA) | 2 | 155 & 100* vs Pakistan, Karachi (2007) | 161 & 109* vs India, Cape Town (2011) | - |
| Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 2 | 142 & 105 vs Bangladesh, Galle, (2013) | 319 & 105* vs Bangladesh, Chittagong (2014) | - |
| Brendan Taylor (ZIM) | 2 | 171 & 102* vs Bangladesh, Harare (2013) | 110 & 106* vs Bangladesh, Dhaka (2018) | - |
Key Stats
Graham Gooch, in the above list, scored an aggregate of 456 (333+123) against India, the highest ever aggregate score by an individual batsman in a Test match.
Aravinda de Silva, against Pakistan, stayed not-out after scoring centuries in both innings, which is again a single-time incident.
West Indian cricketer Lawrence Rowe (214* & 100 vs. NZ, 1972) and Pakistan’s Yasir Hameed (170 & 105 vs. Bangladesh, 2003) are the only two players to score Twin centuries in their debut Test match.
Lawrence Rowe’s double century in the 1st Innings of his debut test innings also puts him on the elite list of 5 Players who scored a double century in their debut Test match.
Related: Which batsmen have scored double centuries in the 4th innings of a Test match?
140+ in both Innings of a Test match
There are 4 instances when a batsman scored 140+ in both innings of a Test match; the recent one being Steve Smith against England in the 2019 Ashes Test match.
4 Instances
- Allan Border – 150* & 153 vs Pakistan, Lahore, 1980
- Andy Flower – 142 & 199* vs South Africa, Harare, 2003
- Tillakaratne Dilshan – 162 & 143 vs Bangladesh, Chittagong, 2009
- Steve Smith – 144 & 142 vs England, Birmingham, 2019
Read: When the going gets tougher, Steve Smith gets going!
Allan Border, the former Australian captain should be specially mentioned for he is the only player ever in Test cricket to score 150+ runs in both innings of the same Test match.
