Top 10 Highest Individual Scores in Cricket

Let’s be real. When someone asks about the highest individual score in cricket, most people immediately think Test matches — and they’re right to. Because no ODI batter, no matter how brilliant, has ever come close to what a Test batsman can do when he’s locked in for two full days.

No overs limit. No countdown clock. Just a bat, a pitch, and sheer will.

The result? A list of the top 10 is like a hall of fame. It has no entries other than test cricket, and to be quite frank, that is all you need to know about the format.

• Brian Lara (400* vs England, 2004)

The highest personal batting record in the history of cricket. Full stop.

Lara walked out in Antigua in April 2004 and batted for 582 deliveries. 400 runs. Not out. 43 fours, four sixes, and he finished unbeaten. What is even more remarkable is the fact that it was not the first time that he held this record.

He had already done it with 375 in 1994, but lost it to Hayden in 2003 and recovered it with interest.

• Matthew Hayden (380 vs Zimbabwe, 2003)

The record was held for one year by Mathew Hayden. And what a knock it was. 437 deliveries. 38 fours. 11 sixes. Raw, front-footed Australian violence towards Zimbabwe in Perth. 

Often, people reject this innings on the basis of the opposition, yet 380 in any Test match requires some concentration that most batters do not achieve throughout their whole career. Hayden was in a different dimension that day.

• Brian Lara (375 vs England, 1994)

Before the 400, there was the 375. He broke a 36-year-old record of Sir Garfield Sobers in Antigua when Lara was only 24 years old. There were 538 deliveries, 45 fours, and a nation all crazed.

The fact that we don’t hear enough about this innings: Lara came in at No. 4 with West Indies already in a strong position and still found a way to make this his match. The game was what made the whole world know what Lara was capable of.

• Mahela Jayawardene (374 vs South Africa, 2006)

In 2005, playing against SA at Colombo, Mahela Jayawardene made 314 out of 572 balls, with 43 fours, but one six. He hardly appeared to be trying hard. The ball just went. And that is the brilliance of Jayawardene.

He turned one of the greatest innings of all to seem almost effortless. In this match he also had a partnership of 624 with Kumar Sangakkara which was a world record. One pitch, one afternoon, two legends, which is still a matter of discussion among Sri Lankan fans.

• Wiaan Mulder (367* vs Zimbabwe, 2024)

The latest name on this old list, and what an entrance.

In 2024, Wiaan Mulder of South Africa scored 367 points on his captain debut against Zimbabwe. His debut as captain. 334 balls, 47 fours, four sixes and an unbeaten triple century to bring himself to the very top.

In case you are a fan of fantasy cricket and like to follow players who can take a game over in their hands, Mulder is the type of name to add to your list. He is the youngest in this list with respect to the date of making the score. No wonder he is going to climb it even higher.

• Garfield Sobers (365* vs Pakistan, 1958)

This was the record over 36 years. Sir Garfield Sobers was only 21 years old, but he hit 365 not out off Pakistan at Kingston, Jamaica and set a standard that the entire cricketing world thought would be there forever.

614 balls. 38 fours. Not a single six; he didn’t need them. Controlled, dominant, and relentless. It lasted until 1994, when a young Brian Lara from the very same country broke it. Poetic, really. The legend is here to live and so is its record.

• Leonard Hutton (364 vs Australia, 1938)

It is so ancient that many lovers of cricket have not even heard about it. One of the most memorable innings in the history of the sport is the 364 of Leonard Hutton against Australia at the Oval in 1938.

847 deliveries. 35 fours. England had 903/7 declared, which remains one of the highest team totals of all time in Tests. Hutton was 22 years of age, and he just continued. England won the day by an innings and 579 runs.

Understanding how pitch conditions shape these kinds of monster scores is genuinely fascinating. The AllCric IPL venue records and pitch report guide breaks that down brilliantly if you want to go deep on it.

• Sanath Jayasuriya (340 vs India, 1997)

Jayasuriya is fondly remembered as a T20-before-T20-existed ODI killer. However, his Test knock of 340 vs. India in 1997 displays a totally new face of his play.

578 balls. 36 fours. Two sixes. More than 13 hours of creasing. This was one of the astonishing team totals of 952/6 that was announced by Sri Lanka, the largest team total in the history of Test cricket, period.

• Hanif Mohammad (337 vs West Indies, 1958)

The name, which has not been given its due credit outside Pakistan, is Hanif Mohammad.

Hanif made his debut in 1958 when Pakistan was playing a follow-on against the West Indies, where he hit 16 hours at the bat. One innings. Sixteen hours.

No typing mistake, it is still the longest single innings in Test cricket. 337 runs, 24 fours, no sixes. Pakistan rescued the game.

It wasn’t flashy. No big celebrations, no sixes into the stands. Just a man who refused to get out for an entire day and then some. Probably the most psychologically brave knock on this list.

• Wally Hammond (336* vs New Zealand, 1933)

And to complete the top 10, we have Wally Hammond of England, who had a score of 336 against New Zealand in Auckland in 1933.

His 318 minutes at the crease are nearly shocking when compared with the performance of others in this list, although the performance was by no means meek. 34 fours, 10 sixes, pure power hitting for the era.

Hammond was only the third batter in history at that point to score a Test triple century. England declared at 548/7, the match was drawn, and Hammond’s name went into the record books where it’s stayed ever since.

Will Any of These Records Ever Fall?

Honestly? Maybe. Cricket keeps producing extraordinary talents. But 400 not out feels almost protected, not because it’s impossible, but because the exact combination of flat pitch, tired attack, perfect form, and supernatural mental strength that produced Lara’s innings in Antigua in 2004 is just so rare.

Then again, that’s exactly what people said about Sobers’ 365 for 36 years. And Lara broke that at 24.

So never say never. And if you are the type of fan who wishes to be there, live, when the next history is penned, make sure you have AllCric on your phone. Live data, AI-generated predictions of matches, and fantasy, in a single roof.