For the last 21 years, the record of the highest individual score in Test cricket history has stood with one man. The inimitable Brian Lara, the only man to score a quadruple-century, when he blazed his way to a historic 400* against England in Antigua.
South Africa’s Wiaan Mulder, in his first match as captain of his nation’s Test side, threatened to make that record his own as he put Zimbabwe to the sword at Bulawayo’s Queen Sports Club. But with lunch called on day two, a declaration emerged from the Proteas dressing room, with Mulder happy to settle for a still formidable score of 367*, just 33 short of Lara.
Mulder, batting at number three, did the bulk of the scoring for the Proteas on day one of this second Test. He went in overnight at 264*, but it was only when he raced past 350, taking only 324 deliveries to do so, that the idea of overtaking Lara’s record truly set in. Remarkably, while Mulder had some solid support, no other batter reached triple-digits in the innings.
While his eyes were on Lara, he also slowly picked off some of the greatest names in the history of Test cricket batting — including the highest score by a Protea, Hashim Amla's 311* against England in 2012. He became only the seventh man to reach 350+, and slowly worked his way past a true gauntlet of Test cricket’s who’s-whos.
{{/usCountry}}While his eyes were on Lara, he also slowly picked off some of the greatest names in the history of Test cricket batting — including the highest score by a Protea, Hashim Amla's 311* against England in 2012. He became only the seventh man to reach 350+, and slowly worked his way past a true gauntlet of Test cricket’s who’s-whos.
{{/usCountry}}Here are the top ten scorers in the history of Test cricket, with a fresh entrant amongst them:
Highest individual scores in Test cricket
1. Brian Lara (WI): 400* — vs England, St John's, 2004
2. Matthew Hayden (AUS): 380 — vs Zimbabwe, WACA, 2003
3. Brian Lara (WI): 375 — vs England, St John's, 1994
4. Mahela Jayawardene (SL): 374 — vs South Africa, Colombo (SSC), 2006
5. WIAAN MULDER (SA): 367* — vs Zimbabwe, QSC Bulawayo, 2025
6. Garfield Sobers (WI): 365* — vs Pakistan, Kingston, 1958
7. Len Hutton (ENG): 364 — vs Australia, The Oval, 1938
8. Sanath Jayasuriya (SL): 340 — vs India, Colombo (RPS), 1997
9. Hanif Mohammad (PAK): 337 — vs West Indies, Bridgetown, 1958
10. Wally Hammond (ENG): 336* — vs New Zealand, Auckland, 1933