Scoring a Double Century in the debut Test match is a dream start any budding cricketer would love to achieve.
Still, it has been carried out successfully only by a handful of players. To be exact, only 7 Batsmen in Test Cricket history has scored a double century on debut (either 1st or 2nd innings) in Test cricket.
Devon Conway of New Zealand is the recent addition to the list. You can find an more debutant records in cricket here.
And all these Double Hundreds were scored on their team’s 1st Innings of the match; i.e. the player’s debut test innings.
Unfortunately, no Indian player has achieved this feat so far. The Highest Runs for a debut Indian cricketer in Test Cricket belongs to Shikhar Dhawan, who scored 187 against Australia in 2013 in Mohali.
Now, let us look onto the 7 players who scored double century in test debut.
Double Century in Debut Test Match
The point to be noted is, no team has lost a Test match after a debutant scored a Double hundred!
You can read here –> Most Double Hundreds in Test Cricket
And, here is the list of Test debut double centuries:
| BATSMEN | 1ST INNS | 2ND INNS | OPPOSITION | MATCH RESULT | GROUND | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tip Foster (ENG) | 287 | 19 | Australia | WON | Sydney | 1903 |
| Lawrence Rowe (WI) | 214 | 100* | New Zealand | DRAWN | Kingston | 1972 |
| Brendon Kuruppu (SL) | 201* | - | New Zealand | DRAWN | Colombo | 1987 |
| Mathew Sinclair (NZ) | 214 | - | West Indies | WON | Wellington | 1999 |
| Jacques Rudolph (RSA) | 222 | - | Bangladesh | WON | Chittagong | 2003 |
| Kyle Mayers (WI) | 40 | 210* | Bangladesh | WON | Chittagong | 2021 |
| Devon Conway (NZ) | 200 | Yet to Play | England | - | Lord's | 2021 |
1.Tip Foster (ENG)
Tip Foster of England is the 1st ever player to register a 200 in a test debut, more than 100 years before in 1903 against Australia.
And that 287 scored by Foster is still the highest score ever made by a debutant in an Innings in the debut Test match.
Naturally, it was the match-winning innings of that game for his team – England.
2.Lawrence Rowe (WI)
Lawrence Rowe made his debut in a drawn Test match against New Zealand in Kingston in 1972, when Rowe scored an additional century in the 2nd Innings too.
His total score of 314 (214, 100*) is the Highest ever total score made by a debut batsman in Test Cricket.
And that is the first and one of the only two events when a batsman scored Centuries in both Innings of his debut Test Match; the other being Yasir Hameed of Pakistan.
3.Brendon Kuruppu (SL)
Possibly, this must be the longest Test innings played by a debut Batsman.
Brendon Kurrupu took 777 minutes / 548 balls to score his Test Debut Double Century (201*). Consequently, this Colombo Test match was a draw between Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
And it was Brendon Kuruppu’s only Test 100+ Runs in his Test career which lasted just 4 matches.
4.Mathew Sinclair (NZ)
Interestingly, Mathew Sinclair scored his career’s highest score (214) on his debut, and that fetches him his 1st Man of the Match in Test cricket against West Indies.
Mathew went on to score one more Double hundred in 2001′ this time against Pakistan, which fetched him his 2nd and the last Man of the Match award.
His lack of consistency has always bugged him throughout his career. And he himself had admitted onto it during his retirement.
5.Jacques Rudolph (SA)
The Only Debut Double Centurion of this Century, Jacques Rudolph scored his career-high score of 222* against Bangladesh in Chittagong in 2003.
Rudolph’s unbeaten 429 Runs partnership with Boeta Dippenaar on that match, was one of the top 10 Highest Partnership in Test Cricket. Read –> ODI Partnership Records (Complete Stats)
6. Kyle Mayers (WI)
Finally a winning debut-double centurion arrives into the format. Kyle Mayers guided West Indies to a fantastic Test win in the land of Bangladesh. The unbeaten 210 from Mayers helped Windies grab on to one of the top 5 world record chases in Test cricket. This is also West Indies’ 2nd best 4th innings chase in Test cricket.
While doing so, Mayers became the first debutant to score a double hundred in the 4th innings of a Test match, and sixth overall to achieve the feat.
7. Devon Conway (NZ)
Devon Conway, the New Zealand opener, made a well-deserving double-century in his debut innings against England. Thanks to Neil Wagner’s brilliant tail effort, Conway was able to achieve the feat with the last man standing at the other end.
Conway is the second New Zealander to achieve this feat after Mathew Sinclair. This is also the highest score for any debut batsman, who played his first game against England. On doing this, the black caps opener made into the Lord’s honors list in his very first match. Here’s a list of legendary players who couldn’t get a century at the home of cricket.
Wrapping it up!
The sad part is the first 5 players who scored a double century in debut test match went onto be a big thing. They were never able to capitalise on the dream start they had.
But still, their name stays in this chart of a rare and prestigious feat in the history of Test Cricket.
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