| Player | Score (Balls) | 4s/6s | Against | Venue | Match Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Hayden (AUS) | 380 (437) | 38/11 | Zimbabwe | Perth | 9 Oct 2003 |
| Leonard Hutton (ENG) | 364 (847) | 35/0 | Australia | The Oval | 20 Aug 1938 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) | 340 (578) | 36/2 | India | Colombo (RPS) | 2 Aug 1997 |
| Hanif Mohammad (PAK) | 337 (NA) | 24/0 | West Indies | Bridgetown | 17 Jan 1958 |
| David Warner (AUS) | 335* (418) | 39/1 | Pakistan | Adelaide | 29 Nov 2019 |
| Mark Taylor (AUS) | 334* (564) | 32/1 | Pakistan | Peshawar | 15 Oct 1998 |
| Graham Gooch (ENG) | 333 (485) | 43/3 | India | Lord’s | 26 Jul 1990 |
| Chris Gayle (WI) | 333 (437) | 34/9 | Sri Lanka | Galle | 15 Nov 2010 |
| Andy Sandham (ENG) | 325 (640) | 28/0 | West Indies | Kingston | 3 Apr 1930 |
| Virender Sehwag (IND) | 319 (304) | 42/5 | South Africa | Chennai | 26 Mar 2008 |
Key Insights
Matthew Hayden has smashed the highest Test score as an opening batter. He hammered 380 against Zimbabwe in the 2003 Perth Test. Overall, Hayden’s 380 is the second-highest Test score.
Andy Sandham was the first opener to score a triple century in Tests. He scored 325 runs against the West Indies in the 1930 Kingston Test.
Virender Sehwag and Chris Gayle are the two openers with two Test triple hundreds. Sehwag has, in fact, brought up the fastest triple hundred in Tests. The second of his 300 came off in 278 balls against South Africa in 2008.
Sehwag has also scored the most double tons as an opener, along with Marvan Atapattu. The Indian and Sri Lankan scored six double hundreds each.
Sunil Gavaskar has smashed the most Test centuries as an opener. He surpassed the 100-run mark in 33 innings. Alastair Cook (31) and Hayden (30) are the other two openers with 30-plus hundreds.
Cook, meanwhile, leads the chart with the most fifty-plus scores as an opener. He brought up 86 fifty-plus scores, with Gavaskar (75) being the other one with more than 70 such knocks.
Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed 12 sixes in his 214-run knock against England in 2024, the most by an opener in a Test innings. Hayden and Brendon McCullum held the previous record with 11 maximums each. Here are few records Yashasvi Jaiswal broke even before his first 10 Tests.
When it comes to boundary fours, England’s John Edrich leads the pack. He whacked 52 fours on his way to an unbeaten 310 against New Zealand in 1965. Edrich remains the only opener to smash more than 50 fours in a Test innings.
Sehwag and David Warner smashed six 100-plus scores at a strike rate of 100 or more, the joint-most among openers in Tests. Ben Duckett, Shikhar Dhawan, and Zak Crawley are the other openers with two or more hundreds with 100-plus strike rates.
Read: Fastest Centuries in Test Cricket History
