Highest 4th Wicket Partnership in Test
The importance of a 4th wicket partnership in test lies in the fact that it stabilizes the team’s innings and helps recover from a difficult situation.
When the top-order batsmen have been dismissed early, the team often finds itself in a vulnerable position.
However, a strong partnership at the 4th wicket not only prevents further collapse but also allows the team to regain control and build a solid foundation for a competitive total.
Highest 4th Wicket Partnership in Test | Top 10 Partnerships
Let’s explore the top 10 highest 4th wicket partnerships and relive the magic created by these batting duos.
10- Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke – 352 runs partnership:
On January 14, 2010, in Hobart, they combined for a partnership of 352 runs against Pakistan and left an indelible mark on the cricketing canvas.
Australia scored their first innings at 519/8 and 219/5d in their second innings, and Pakistan’s response fell short, resulting in Australia winning by 231 runs.
9- Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman – 353 runs partnership:
In a memorable encounter against Australia in Sydney on January 2, 2004, the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and the stylish VVS Laxman crafted a partnership of 353 runs.
Their sublime batting showcased their ability to counter formidable bowling attacks.
India declared at 705/7, and the match ended in a draw with Australia responding with 357/6 in their second innings.
8- Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane – 365 runs partnership:
On October 8, 2016, in Indore, India’s modern-day stalwarts, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, combined for a partnership of 365 runs against New Zealand.
Their masterful batting display highlighted the strength and depth of India’s batting lineup.
India declared at 557/5, and New Zealand struggled, leading to India winning by 321 runs.
7- Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls – 369 runs partnership:
New Zealand’s dynamic duo, Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls, forged a resilient partnership of 369 runs against Pakistan in Christchurch on January 3, 2021.
Their partnership played a pivotal role in New Zealand’s success and showcased their ability to counter challenging bowling attacks.
New Zealand declared at 659/6, and Pakistan’s response was not enough as New Zealand won by an innings and 176 runs.
6- Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke – 386 runs partnership:
Australia witnessed another memorable partnership on January 24, 2012, as Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke combined for a partnership of 386 runs against India in Adelaide.
Their exemplary batting laid the foundation for a commanding Australian performance.
India faced a tough challenge, ultimately losing the match by a margin of 298 runs.
5- Bill Ponsford and Don Bradman – 388 runs partnership:
The iconic duo of Bill Ponsford and Don Bradman displayed their batting genius on July 20, 1934, against England in Leeds.
Their partnership of 388 runs played a pivotal role in Australia’s dominance, leaving an indelible mark on the history of Test cricket.
Australia scored 584 in their first innings, and in reply, England scored 200 and 229/6 and managed to draw the match.
4- Garry Sobers and Frank Worrell – 399 runs partnership:
On January 6, 1960, Garry Sobers and Frank Worrell combined forces for the West Indies, producing a formidable partnership of 399 runs against England in Bridgetown.
Their collaboration not only showcased the prowess of West Indian cricket but also stood as a testament to their resilience.
The West Indies declared their second innings at 563/8d, and the match ended in a draw with England responding with 71/0 in second innings.
3- Peter May and Colin Cowdrey – 411 runs partnership:
In a classic encounter between England and the West Indies on May 30, 1957, Peter May and Colin Cowdrey stood tall with a partnership of 411 runs.
This resilient effort showcased their batting mastery and left a lasting legacy in the cricketing archives.
England asserted dominance with a total of 583/4d in their second innings, and the West Indies struggled to match, leading to a draw.
2- Mahela Jayawardene and Tilhan Samaraweera – 437 runs partnership:
Sri Lankan maestros Mahela Jayawardene and Tilhan Samaraweera crafted a memorable partnership of 437 runs against Pakistan in Karachi on February 21, 2009.
Their gritty display of batting prowess not only helped Sri Lanka dominate the match but also set a new benchmark for 4th wicket partnerships.
Sri Lanka seized control of the match, posting 644/7d. Pakistan responded well, and the match ended in a draw.
1- Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh – 449 runs partnership:
Australia witnessed a historic partnership on December 10, 2015, when Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh combined forces against the West Indies in Hobart.
Their incredible partnership of 449 runs not only secured a commanding position for Australia but also remains the highest 4th wicket partnership in test.
Australia declared at a mammoth total of 583/4, and the West Indies struggled to match the intensity, ultimately losing by an innings and 212 runs.
List of All the Highest 4th Wicket Partnerships in Test Cricket History
Sr. No. | Partners | Runs | Team | Opposition | Ground | Match Date |
1 | Adam Voges, Shaun Marsh | 449 | Australia | v West Indies | Hobart | 10-Dec-15 |
2 | Mahela Jayawardene, Tilhan Samaraweera | 437 | Sri Lanka | v Pakistan | Karachi | 21-Feb-09 |
3 | Peter May, Colin Cowdrey | 411 | England | v West Indies | Birmingham | 30-May-57 |
4 | Garry Sobers, Frank Worrell | 399 | West Indies | v England | Bridgetown | 6-Jan-60 |
5 | Bill Ponsford, Don Bradman | 388 | Australia | v England | Leeds | 20-Jul-34 |
6 | Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke | 386 | Australia | v India | Adelaide | 24-Jan-12 |
7 | Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls | 369 | New Zealand | v Pakistan | Christchurch | 3-Jan-21 |
8 | Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane | 365 | India | v New Zealand | Indore | 8-Oct-16 |
9 | Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman | 353 | India | v Australia | Sydney | 2-Jan-04 |
10 | Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke | 352 | Australia | v Pakistan | Hobart | 14-Jan-10 |
11 | Mushtaq Mohammad, Asif Iqbal | 350 | Pakistan | v New Zealand | Dunedin | 7-Feb-73 |
12 | FDM Karunaratne, DM de Silva | 345 | Sri Lanka | v Bangladesh | Pallekele | 21-Apr-21 |
13 | WM Lawry, KD Walters | 336 | Australia | v West Indies | Sydney | 14-Feb-69 |
14 | Javed Miandad, Saleem Malik | 322 | Pakistan | v England | Birmingham | 4-Jun-92 |
15 | JN Gillespie, MEK Hussey | 320 | Australia | v Bangladesh | Chattogram | 16-Apr-06 |
16 | PD Collingwood, KP Pietersen | 310 | England | v Australia | Adelaide | 1-Dec-06 |
17 | HM Amla, AB de Villiers | 308 | South Africa | v West Indies | Centurion | 17-Dec-14 |
18 | JA Burns, TM Head | 308 | Australia | v Sri Lanka | Canberra | 1-Feb-19 |
19 | Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan | 307 | Afghanistan | v Zimbabwe | Abu Dhabi | 10-Mar-21 |
20 | JE Root, HC Brook | 302 | England | v New Zealand | Wellington | 24-Feb-23 |
21 | M Labuschagne, TM Head | 297 | Australia | v West Indies | Adelaide | 8-Dec-22 |
22 | N Hussain, GP Thorpe | 288 | England | v Australia | Birmingham | 5-Jun-97 |
23 | RT Ponting, MJ Clarke | 288 | Australia | v India | Sydney | 3-Jan-12 |
24 | Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas | 287 | Pakistan | v India | Faisalabad | 3-Jan-83 |
25 | KP Pietersen, IR Bell | 286 | England | v South Africa | Lord's | 10-Jul-08 |
26 | SPD Smith, TM Head | 285 | Australia | v India | The Oval | 7-Jun-23 |
27 | WW Hinds, S Chanderpaul | 284 | West Indies | v South Africa | Georgetown | 31-Mar-05 |
28 | FMM Worrell, ED Weekes | 283 | West Indies | v England | Nottingham | 20-Jul-50 |
29 | SR Tendulkar, SC Ganguly | 281 | India | v New Zealand | Ahmedabad | 29-Oct-99 |
30 | G Gambhir, VVS Laxman | 278 | India | v Australia | Delhi | 29-Oct-08 |
31 | BKG Mendis, AD Mathews | 274* | Sri Lanka | v New Zealand | Wellington | 15-Dec-18 |
32 | LRPL Taylor, JD Ryder | 271 | New Zealand | v India | Napier | 26-Mar-09 |
33 | JE Root, JM Bairstow | 269* | England | v India | Birmingham | 1-Jul-22 |
34 | GW Flower, A Flower | 269 | Zimbabwe | v Pakistan | Harare | 31-Jan-95 |
35 | CL Walcott, GE Gomez | 267 | West Indies | v India | Delhi | 10-Nov-48 |
36 | RG Sharma, AM Rahane | 267 | India | v South Africa | Ranchi | 19-Oct-19 |
37 | WR Hammond, TS Worthington | 266 | England | v India | The Oval | 15-Aug-36 |
38 | MH Denness, KWR Fletcher | 266 | England | v New Zealand | Auckland | 20-Feb-75 |
39 | Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim | 266 | Bangladesh | v Zimbabwe | Mirpur | 11-Nov-18 |
40 | V Kohli, AM Rahane | 262 | India | v Australia | Melbourne | 26-Dec-14 |
41 | DP Sibley, BA Stokes | 260 | England | v West Indies | Manchester | 16-Jul-20 |
42 | Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana | 259 | Pakistan | v England | Karachi | 7-Dec-00 |
43 | EJM Cowan, MJ Clarke | 259 | Australia | v South Africa | Brisbane | 9-Nov-12 |
44 | SE Marsh, MEK Hussey | 258 | Australia | v Sri Lanka | Pallekele | 8-Sep-11 |
45 | SC Ganguly, SR Tendulkar | 256 | India | v Sri Lanka | Wankhede | 3-Dec-97 |
46 | Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad | 255 | Pakistan | v India | Faisalabad | 16-Oct-78 |
47 | G Boycott, BL D'Oliveira | 252 | England | v India | Leeds | 8-Jun-67 |
48 | Javed Miandad, Mushtaq Mohammad | 252 | Pakistan | v New Zealand | Karachi | 30-Oct-76 |
49 | GM Wood, CS Serjeant | 251 | Australia | v West Indies | Georgetown | 31-Mar-78 |
50 | RB Kanhai, GS Sobers | 250 | West Indies | v England | Georgetown | 28-Mar-68 |
51 | DS Lehmann, SR Waugh | 250 | Australia | v Bangladesh | Cairns | 25-Jul-03 |
52 | A Sandham, LEG Ames | 249 | England | v West Indies | Kingston | 3-Apr-30 |
53 | SR Tendulkar, SC Ganguly | 249 | India | v England | Leeds | 22-Aug-02 |
54 | JH Kallis, G Kirsten | 249 | South Africa | v West Indies | Durban | 26-Dec-03 |
55 | L Hutton, DCS Compton | 248 | England | v West Indies | Lord's | 24-Jun-39 |
56 | HM Amla, F du Plessis | 247 | South Africa | v Bangladesh | Bloemfontein | 6-Oct-17 |
57 | Javed Miandad, Shoaib Mohammad | 246 | Pakistan | v India | Lahore | 1-Dec-89 |
58 | KC Brathwaite, SD Hope | 246 | West Indies | v England | Leeds | 25-Aug-17 |
59 | MEK Hussey, MJ Clarke | 245 | Australia | v Sri Lanka | Brisbane | 8-Nov-07 |
60 | DG Bradman, A Jackson | 243 | Australia | v England | The Oval | 16-Aug-30 |
61 | MJ Horne, NJ Astle | 243 | New Zealand | v Zimbabwe | Auckland | 26-Feb-98 |
62 | AP Gurusinha, A Ranatunga | 240* | Sri Lanka | v Pakistan | Colombo (PSS) | 22-Mar-86 |
63 | SP Fleming, CD McMillan | 240 | New Zealand | v Sri Lanka | Colombo (RPS) | 27-May-98 |
64 | EH Hendren, LEG Ames | 237 | England | v West Indies | Port of Spain | 1-Feb-30 |
65 | HA Gomes, CH Lloyd | 237 | West Indies | v India | Port of Spain | 11-Mar-83 |
66 | AL Hassett, KR Miller | 235 | Australia | v West Indies | Sydney | 30-Nov-51 |
67 | RB Richardson, IVA Richards | 235 | West Indies | v India | Kingston | 28-Apr-89 |
68 | Javed Miandad, Saleem Malik | 234 | Pakistan | v England | The Oval | 6-Aug-87 |
69 | AN Cook, PD Collingwood | 233 | England | v Pakistan | Lord's | 13-Jul-06 |
70 | ME Waugh, SR Waugh | 231 | Australia | v West Indies | Kingston | 29-Apr-95 |
71 | AP Gurusinha, A Ranatunga | 230 | Sri Lanka | v Australia | Colombo (SSC) | 17-Aug-92 |
72 | BE Congdon, BF Hastings | 229 | New Zealand | v Australia | Wellington | 1-Mar-74 |
73 | JH Kallis, AB de Villiers | 224 | South Africa | v India | Centurion | 16-Dec-10 |
74 | SPD Smith, AC Voges | 223* | Australia | v West Indies | Melbourne | 26-Dec-15 |
75 | DI Gower, MW Gatting | 223 | England | v New Zealand | The Oval | 21-Aug-86 |
76 | WR Hammond, E Paynter | 222 | England | v Australia | Lord's | 24-Jun-38 |
77 | VS Hazare, VL Manjrekar | 222 | India | v England | Leeds | 5-Jun-52 |
78 | AN Cook, EJG Morgan | 222 | England | v India | Birmingham | 10-Aug-11 |
79 | V Kohli, AM Rahane | 222 | India | v Bangladesh | Hyderabad | 9-Feb-17 |
80 | Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim | 222 | Bangladesh | v Zimbabwe | Mirpur | 22-Feb-20 |
81 | GHS Trott, SE Gregory | 221 | Australia | v England | Lord's | 22 Jun 1896 |
82 | SR Tendulkar, M Azharuddin | 221 | India | v Sri Lanka | Colombo (RPS) | 2-Aug-97 |
83 | KS Williamson, BB McCullum | 221 | New Zealand | v India | Auckland | 6-Feb-14 |
84 | S Chanderpaul, BP Nash | 220 | West Indies | v South Africa | Basseterre | 18-Jun-10 |
85 | JH Kallis, AG Prince | 219 | South Africa | v Australia | Sydney | 2-Jan-06 |
86 | Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq | 218 | Pakistan | v Sri Lanka | Abu Dhabi | 31-Dec-13 |
87 | RB Kanhai, BF Butcher | 217 | West Indies | v India | Eden Gardens | 31-Dec-58 |
88 | GS Chappell, GN Yallop | 217 | Australia | v Pakistan | Faisalabad | 6-Mar-80 |
89 | CA Pujara, AM Rahane | 217 | India | v Sri Lanka | Colombo (SSC) | 3-Aug-17 |
90 | RL Dias, LRD Mendis | 216 | Sri Lanka | v India | Kandy | 14-Sep-85 |
91 | LRPL Taylor, HM Nicholls | 216 | New Zealand | v Bangladesh | Wellington | 8-Mar-19 |
92 | NE Bonner, KR Mayers | 216 | West Indies | v Bangladesh | Chattogram | 3-Feb-21 |
93 | HW Taylor, HG Deane | 214 | South Africa | v England | The Oval | 17-Aug-29 |
94 | DM Jones, AR Border | 214 | Australia | v West Indies | Adelaide | 3-Feb-89 |
95 | AJ Strauss, PD Collingwood | 214 | England | v India | Chennai | 11-Dec-08 |
96 | MJ Clarke, SPD Smith | 214 | Australia | v England | Manchester | 1-Aug-13 |
97 | TWM Latham, HM Nicholls | 214 | New Zealand | v Sri Lanka | Christchurch | 26-Dec-18 |
98 | FMM Worrell, CL Walcott | 213 | West Indies | v India | Kingston | 28-Mar-53 |
99 | IR Redpath, KD Walters | 210 | Australia | v West Indies | Sydney | 14-Feb-69 |
100 | RT Ponting, MJ Clarke | 210 | Australia | v India | Adelaide | 24-Jan-08 |
Data Source: ESPN Cricinfo