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Traditionally, teams used to put their best batters at first drop in Test cricket.
The number three batters need to have the technical ability to face the new ball, because they can be required to come in to bat in the first over, should a wicket fall early.
They might also be required to come in later and be able to push the game forward. Below, we list the batters who scored the most runs in an innings at number three.
1. Brian Lara
- West Indies
- 400 not out against England
Brian Lara was 34 and playing in his 106th Test. His experience showed in his masterful shot selection and execution; however, what was not on display was his age.
Lara sprinted singles with the eagerness of a man in the early years of his Test career. The Prince, as he is widely known, was in control of the innings and barely gave an opportunity to the England bowlers who toiled without joy.
Lara’s unbeaten marathon lasted for 12 hours and 58 minutes. The left-hander faced 582 deliveries on his way to an imperious 400, the highest individual score in Test cricket. His knock helped the West Indies reach 751/5d, one of their highest Test scores in the sport.
2. Brian Lara
- West Indies
- 375 against England
Brian Lara was a master against England. He walked out to bat against them in 31 Tests and averaged a century every four Tests against them.
He also has his two highest scores against them, his unbeaten 400 in 2004 and his brilliant 375 in a decade earlier. Both came at St John’s, in Antigua.
The 375 was Lara’s third Test century, and it confirmed what he had hinted at with his first two tons; he had an enormous appetite for runs. His first two were 277 and 167. The 375 helped the West Indies reach 593/5d.
Also read: Who has the most Test 100s? Joe Root in hot pursuit of No.1 spot
3. Wiaan Mulder
- South Africa
- 367 not out against Zimbabwe
No one was as relieved as Zimbabwe’s bowlers when Mulder declared South Africa’s innings in the second Test at Queen’s Sports Club in July 2025.
Mulder, who walked in to bat after Tony de Zorzi’s early demise, did not give a chance to Zimbabwe in his 410-minute stay at the crease.
The number three batter was part of two partnerships that broke Zimbabwe’s back. First, a 184-run third-wicket stand with David Bedingham and, second, a 217-run fourth-wicket partnership with Lhuan-dre Pretorius.
Mulder’s effort steered South Africa to 626/5d before the South African bowlers bundled out Zimbabwe’s batters 170 and 220 to secure victory by an innings and 236 runs.
Mulder faced 297 balls to complete his triple-century to become the second-fastest batter to do so in Test cricket. He trails Virender Sehwag, who took 278 balls for his triple-hundred against South Africa at Chennai in 2008.
4. Garry Sobers
- West Indies
- 365 not out against Pakistan
The West Indies built their dominant victory over Pakistan, at Sabina Park in February 1958, on the foundation built on Garry Sobers and Conrad Hunte’s 446-run second-wicket partnership.
The pair’s partnership made Imtiaz Ahmed’s first innings century insignificant as they lifted the West Indies to 790/3d.
Garry Sobers, who often batted at number five or six, walked out to the crease at first drop and plundered an unbeaten 365 runs against a Pakistan bowling attack that had no answers for the left-hander’s brilliance.
Sobers, who was 21 at the time, registered a record that would stand for 36 years. It was the highest individual Test score until Lara scored his 375.
5. Wally Hammond
- England
- 336 not out against New Zealand
Bill Bowes executed one of the best bowling displays against New Zealand in Auckland in April 1933. He took two wickets in two balls to reduce New Zealand to 0/2, but the main feature of his bowling in the innings was that he castled all six batters he dismissed.
However, despite Bowes’s brilliance, the star of the match was Wally Hammond. England was on 56/1 when Hammond arrived at the crease. The number three batter spent 318 minutes in the middle as he piled on an unbeaten 336 against a hapless New Zealand attack.
Hammond’s score shepherded England to 548/7d. His innings was one of the most dominant displays of batting.
6. Don Bradman
- Australia
- 334 against England
The media played up the rivalry between Bradman and Wally Hammond. It was an inevitable outcome; the pair were the greatest batters of their era and competed often.
The question of who would finish a match with the most runs fascinated fans who eagerly followed the contests between Australia and England.
In July 1930, Bradman took home bragging rights. He outscored Hammond by some distance. He basically opened the innings after arriving at the crease to replace Archie Jackson, who had faced a mere nine deliveries in his short stay at the crease.
Bradman faced 448 balls as he batted his way to 334 runs. Bradman batted only once but outscored Hammond, who made 113 and 35 in the match.
7. Kumar Sangakkara
- Sri Lanka
- 319 against Bangladesh
Sangakkara’s 319 against Bangladesh in February 2014 was his 34th Test century and ninth double century. It drew him equal to Brian Lara in second place on the list of batters with the most double centuries in their career.
The milestone came just over a year before his retirement, and Sangakkara added two more double centuries to finish his career with 11, one behind Don Bradman.
Sangakkara scored 319 from 482 balls after Sri Lanka elected to bat first. His score powered Sri Lanka to 587. He went on to score another century in the third innings, 105, to put an exclamation mark on his dominance in the Test.
Younis Khan and Hashim Amla are the only other two batters with totals above 300 at number three. Khan made 313 against Sri Lanka in Karachi in February 2009, while Amla’s unbeaten 311 came against England at the Oval in 2012.
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The post 7 mighty scores recorded by No.3s in Test cricket: Lara, Sangakkara make the cut appeared first on Cricket365.
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