Top 3 fastest triple hundreds in Tests

Test cricket epitomises patience; the endurance required to power through five days of intense action is unreal. Yet, there have been instances where batters have lived through the mind games, pressure, tension and demands to go on and score triple hundreds in the longest format. While Tests do not focus much on strike rate and hard-hitting, some batters naturally play fast. Hence, there have been instances when triple hundreds have been scored at a good pace. Here are the three fastest triple hundreds in Tests.

3. Virender Sehwag – 300 in 364 balls

India star batter Virender Sehwag is a hard-hitter; the world needs no reminder of the same. He is the only Indian to have scored two triple-hundreds in tests. His first triple hundred scored in the first Test of 2004’s India tour of Pakistan makes it into the list at the third position. India posted a commanding 675/5 before declaring their innings, with Sehwag scoring the first triple hundred of his career. He scored 309 off 375 balls but reached his triple century in 364 balls which remains the third-fastest triple century in the game’s longest format. Pakistan, in reply, could not get to India’s in two innings scoring 407 and 216, as India won the match by an innings and 52 runs.

2. Matthew Hayden – 300 in 362 balls

After Sehwag’s tantalising triple century, Australia star batter Matthew Hayden, in the same year, smashed his record by reaching the 300-run mark in 362 balls, two less than Sehwag’s record. In the first Test of 2004’s Zimbabwe tour of Australia, the hosts posted 735/6 before declaring as Matthew Hayden scored 380 off 437 balls, the second-highest score in Tests. In reply, the visitors could not reach anyway near the mammoth Australian total after scoring 239 and 321 in their two innings, respectively. Australia, in the end, won by an innings and 175 runs. Hayden held his record for four years as Sehwag responded with another mesmerising innings. 

1.Virender Sehwag – 300 in 278 balls

On number one, we have an innings that every Sehwag fan remembers by heart. Virender Sehwag’s match-saving 319 off 304 balls against South Africa in 2008 is of the stuff dreams are made of. In the first Test of the series, the Proteas batted first, scoring a mammoth 540 in Chennai. India had to reply, and they did so with Virendra Sehwag’s triple century that he reached in just 278 balls smashing Matthew Hayden’s standing record for the fastest triple century in Tests in 362 balls. India scored 627 before being bowled out, breaking South African hearts as the visitors looked set to make long strides in the series. Ultimately, they could only conjure 331/5 as they declared the innings and accepted a mutual draw. Sehwag’s triple hundred of 278 balls is still the fastest test triple-century record in Tests.