5 Highest individual scores in Test cricket

Matthew Hayden (380)

Some Batsmen are feared more for their intent and their presence than their overall skills. Matthew Hayden belonged to that breed of players. This is not to say that Hayden lacked in skill set. One can’t boast of 14349 test runs, and 7767 ODI runs if that were the case. Hayden formed a destructive opening pair with Adam Gilchrist in ODIs. The two wreaked havoc and dominated white-ball cricket. A seamless transition in T20’s setup at times undermines the fact that Haydos holds the record for the highest Individual test score by an Australian batsman.

Australia posted a mammoth total of 735, led by Haydos’s 380. In reply, Zimbabwe could only muster 239, 141 runs short of Hayden’s individual score. Australia won the match by an innings and 175 runs. In the same game, Adam Gilchrist scored an unbeaten 113*, but it was dwarfed by Hayden’s triple hundred.

Interestingly, Back in 2002, former Australian captain Steve Waugh had predicted that Hayden would surpass Brain Lara’s 375. A year later, Haydos drove Zimbabwe’s Ray Prince to go past Brian Lara’s 375, the highest score in tests at that time. Hayden celebrated with the bat in one hand and baggy green in the other. Little did he know that Lara would dethrone him two years later.