The prefix greatest is added before a batsman only when he scores runs on a consistent basis irrespective of the opposition or condition. The journey to being the same isn’t easy as the player is bound to face a slump in form at some point in his career and the time taken to recover from it will decide how far the cricketer will reach in his blossoming career. Whenever a cricketer goes through a tough phase in his professional life, he like everyone else will be raring to return to the ground which gave him all the success.
Given the familiarity with conditions and crowd support, the player is confident of fighting his way out of the slump and progressing in the right direction with respect to his career. Naturally, the stellar show by the player at that particular ground didn’t go unnoticed and it made its way into record books of cricket. We will be speaking about one such stat in the present article. In the below piece, we look at 5 batsmen to score the most runs on a single ground in Test cricket:
1. Mahela Jayawardene – 2921 runs at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo
A classical Sri Lankan middle-order batsman, Jayawardene chronicled 2921 runs from 27 Tests at an average of 74.89, including 11 centuries and 9 fifties at Colombo. His best score on this ground came against South Africa during the 1st Test in 2006.
Having restricted the visitors for just 169 in the first innings, Sri Lanka posted a gargantuan total of 756-5 in reply, on the back of immaculate knocks of 374(572) by Jayawardene and 287(457) by Sangakkara. The huge lead thus gained was enough to conjure a result for Sri Lanka as they skittled out the Africans for 434 and won the game by an innings and 153 runs.
2. Mahela Jayawardene – 2382 runs at the Galle International Stadium
Yet again, Jayawardene features in this list but for a phenomenal show at Galle this time around, smashing 2382 runs from 23 Tests at an average of 70.05, including 7 centuries and 12 fifties. His highest score on this ground came against South Africa during the 1st Test in 2004.
Batting first, Sri Lanka posted a competitive total of 486 in the first innings, owing to fabulous innings of 237(415) by Jayawardene and 69(142) by Vaas. Pollock picked up 4-48 for the visitors. In reply, South Africa managed 376 in their first innings and allowed the hosts a lead of just over 100.
The advantage lied with Sri Lanka but the Proteas didn’t seem to bother over it as they halted the former at 214-9 in the second innings and saw them chase 325 in the last innings. The South Africans batted with authority this time around, posting 203-3 and drawing the Test match.
3. Kumar Sangakkara – 2312 runs at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo
If his close friend and teammate, Jayawardene does wonders at this particular venue, how can Sangakkara not join him in this celebration? The wicketkeeper-batsman too was his own when he batted on this ground, amassing 2312 runs from 22 Tests at an average of 74.58, including 8 centuries and 7 fifties.
His highest score of 287 at this venue came in the same game when Jayawardene smashed his greatest innings of 374 in Test cricket to bring curtains on a South African comeback, who lost the game embarrassingly by an innings and 153 runs.
4. Jacques Kallis – 2181 runs at Newlands, Cape Town
One of the greatest all-rounders to have ever played the game, Kallis scored a plethora of runs at Cape Town, plundering 2181 runs from 22 Tests at an average of 72.70, including 9 centuries and 9 fifties. His best innings on this ground came against Sri Lanka during the 3rd Test in 2012.
Put in to bat first, South Africa posted a colossal total of 580-4 in the first innings on the back of resplendent knocks of 109(188) by Petersen, 160(205) by de Villiers and 224(325) by Kallis. Sri Lanka, in response, could only manage 239 in their first innings and handed a hefty lead to the home team.
The African nation rightly enforced the follow-on and bundled out the Lankans for 342, leaving themselves just 2 for victory. The hosts achieved the target by 10 wickets and exerted their domineering impact over the opposition.
5. Graham Gooch – 2015 runs at Lord’s, London
Known as the accumulator of runs in a cricketing circle, Gooch played some memorable knocks at the iconic Lord’s cricket ground. His record here stands as 2015 runs from 21 Tests at an average of 53.02, including 6 centuries and 5 fifties. His best score at this venue came against India during the 1st Test in 1990.
England while batting first, posted a gigantic score of 653-4 in the first innings, where Gooch, Lamb and Smith showcased their class, smashing scores of 333(485), 139(187) and 100(155) respectively. India, too, batted well in their first innings, scoring 454 but still fell short of the English total, affording them a valuable lead.
England then scored 272-4 in the second innings, courtesy knocks of 123(113) by Gooch and 72(114) by Atherton and set India a target of 472 in the fourth innings. The visitors, however, were unable to achieve it as they were dismissed for 224 and bestowed England a win by 247 runs.
