The Most Memorable Test Centuries in Cricket History

Test cricket, being the purest and best format of the game, holds a special place in the hearts of cricket enthusiasts. Any achievement in this format is always significant. Among the many records in Test cricket, the most prestigious are those related to run-scoring and centuries. So, let's take a look at the most memorable Test centuries in cricket history.

Also Read: Most Test centuries in overseas by active batters

Sir Donald Bradman's 254 at Lord's

Sir Donald Bradman scored his first century in his maiden Test match at Lord's during the summer of 1930, when he hit 254 for Australia versus England. This is one of the most memorable Test centuries in cricket history.

Just aged 21 and batting at three, Bradman scored 254 during his knock off 376 balls, hitting 25 fours in an innings that helped his side make a total of 729/6d. That innings would be the highest individual score by an overseas batsman for just over 70 years before Graeme Smith scored 259 at the Home of Cricket in 2003.

Brian Lara's 400* against England

Brian Lara holds the record for the highest individual score in Test cricket, scoring an unbeaten 400  off just 582 balls against England in 2004. Lara reclaimed his record from Australian Matthew Hayden, who only six months earlier had broken the record with 380 in Perth in October 2003.

After Lara’s mammoth innings of 400*, West Indies decided to call it a day and declared their innings on 751/5. On a laboring three days, three England bowlers were smashed for more than 100 runs with the ball.

To date, Mahela Jayawardene of Sri Lanka is the only batter to get any closer to the record as he smashed 374 against South Africa in July 2006, but could not break Lara’s legendary feat. 

Sachin Tendulkar’s 241 vs Australia

Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 241 off 436 balls during the 2003-04 Border-Gavaskar trophy is one of the most memorable Test centuries in cricket history. 

Tendulkar's innings enabled India to draw the Test match against Australia as the series finished on a 1-1 scoreline. He hit 33 boundaries during his innings which lasted for 10 hours and 13 minutes but he did not hit a single cover drive as he was repeatedly getting out while trying to play shots outside the off-stump. it was the one time when the Master Blaster shackled himself into playing like a commoner but the innings was as exquisite as any of his flashier ones.

Also Read: Most Test centuries in the World Test Championship

Ricky Ponting’s twin centuries at the SCG

For most players, playing 100 Test matches is a huge achievement, only 50 have achieved it in the history of Test cricket and Ricky Ponting is one of them. Apart from that feat, the ex-Australia captain also smashed twin centuries in his 100th Test match. He scored 120 and 143* in the first and second innings respectively against South Africa in the SCG Test.

Ponting scored 120 from 174 balls in the first innings, smashing as many as 13 boundaries to become the first Australian to score a hundred in his 100th Test match. A total of five players had recorded a century in their 100th Test match but none of them was an Australian.

Ponting brought up his 2nd century (143*) of the game in only 111 balls. In this process, Ponting became the first player to smash a twin hundred in his career’s 100th Test match and is also the only player with this feat to date.

Rahul Dravid’s 233 at Adelaide 

Rahul Dravid's 233 off 446 balls against the mighty Australian bowling attack was nothing but a great innings, hitting 23 fours and 1 sixes. Probably, one of the best Tests came from Dravid as he turned around the game in India’s favor with a brilliant innings. 

Australia posted a big total on board and the onus was on Dravid to take India close to it after four wickets fell. Dravid played responsibly and ensured India came within shouting distance of this total. He made a 303-run partnership alongside VVS Laxman that took India’s fight back. Dravid was the last man to get out after facing 446 balls and spending close to 10 hours in the middle.

Dravid was not done, though. He remained unbeaten on 73 as India chased down a target of 230, winning by four wickets. It was India's first Test win Down Under after 22 years.

VVS Laxman’s 281 at Eden Gardens

VVS Laxman scored an epic 281 against the mighty Australians at the Eden Gardens in 2001. It is a knock that defined the word legend and put Laxman’s name into the annals of cricketing history for eternity. 

Australia enforced the follow-on after being a comfortable 274 runs ahead. Steve Waugh and his men would have expected to wrap up pretty quickly. Then Laxman walked in at No 3 and delivered a memorable performance at the Eden Gardens. In the company of Rahul Dravid, he put on 376 runs that took India past 600. India declared on the final day and bowled out Australia to win the game by 171 runs.

Kevin Pietersen’s 186 in Mumbai 

Kevin Pietersen’s 186 against India in Mumbai is the best of the lot, surely. With the pressure on after his double failure at Ahmedabad, Pietersen showed he was none for the worse for his exile. Walked off to a standing ovation at the Wankhede.

Pietersen came to the crease with England 68-2 in their first innings, batting after India's effort of 326. He dominated a stand of 206 with fellow centurion Alastair Cook as England leveled the score at 1-1 and took the momentum on for another victory in Kolkata and eventual 2-1 success.

Also Read: Fab Four: Most Test Centuries

Alastair Cook’s 263 in Abu Dhabi

Alastair Cook showed ultimate endurance in baking-hot Abu Dhabi to beat the record for the longest Test innings by an Englishman.

Cook's 836-minute vigil surpassed the 797 minutes Sir Len Hutton spent at the crease against Australia in 1938 and now only Gary Kirsten (878 minutes) and Hanif Mohammad (970 minutes) have registered longer knocks in Test cricket than Cook.

Another quirk from the England captain's masterclass, which included just the 18 fours, was that when it reached 783 minutes it exceeded the length of the fourth Ashes Test of the 2015 series at Trent Bridge.