Top 10 highest run chases in Test Cricket
Top 10 highest run chases in Test Cricket: Run chase is a passage of play in which the batting team has to score runs very quickly, especially to win the match in the last innings.
The history of Test match cricket displays some teams doing the unthinkable job and nailing difficult run-chases in the final innings.
1. West Indies 418/7 – St John’s, 2003
West Indies ended up recording Test cricket’s highest run-chase ever against Australia at St John’s in the year 2003. Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul overhauled Australia’s massive 417 in the final innings of the Test match.
2. South Africa 414/4 – Perth, 2008
The Australian team usually wins the game with great ease but for the first time they were at the receiving end of incredible batting in the fourth innings of a Test match. The South Africans nailed a strenuous run-chase, scoring a whopping 414/4 on the final afternoon in 2008. All the appreciation goes to centuries scored by Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers and the scores of fifties from Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, and JP Duminy.
3. India 406/4 – Port of Spain, 1976
This run chase goes down as one of the most significant events in the history of the game. Not because the Indian team performed extremely well but due to the aftermath of it. West Indies, evolving from a painful defeat at home, unleashed a formidable four-man pace attack that dominated world cricket for the next decade and a half. India aced the third-highest successful run-chase in Test match history with the help of the partnership of Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath.
4. Australia 404/3 – Leeds, 1948
A seemingly unachievable target of 404 was a rare high-scoring fixture in times of uncovered pitches but Australia drowned the hosts on their way to a victory having seven wickets in hand. It was a chase made possible by final innings centuries made from the partnership of Arthus Morris and Sir Don Bradman.
5. West Indies 395/7 – Chattogram, 2021
When West Indies had a massive target of 395 runs in the final innings on a dry pitch from Bangladesh. It was a run-chase that got Kyle Mayers registered in the history of cricket as he smashed 210 runs off 310 deliveries to take West Indies to the most unlikely victory.
6. Sri Lanka 391/6 – Colombo (RPS), 2017
On a very successful trip where they managed to win the ODI series 3-2, Zimbabwe had the chance to add another feather to their caps by pulling off their victory over Sri Lanka. Playing saviors for the Sri-Lankan team were Niroshan Dickwella and Asela Gunaratne, who both reached valiant eighties towards their team’s total score, stitching a match-winning bracket for the sixth wicket after Zimbabwe found themselves 5 for 203 at one stage.
7. India 387/4 – Chepauk, 2008
Sachin Tendulkar helped the India team with an unbeaten 103 off 196 deliveries in the final innings at Chepauk. India had to chase 387, and the game was set up by an excellent partnership of 117 between Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. Yuvraj Singh contributed an admirable 85 runs and gave Tendulkar the support he required.
8. Pakistan 382/3 – Pallekele, 2015
Chasing a massive score of 377, Pakistan smashed 382/3, with hundreds of incredible substances from the players, Shan Masood and Younis Khan, ably supported at the task by a half-century scored by the then Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq. They conceded a 63-run first-innings lead.
9. England 378/3 – Edgbaston, 2022
Chasing a massive target of 378, the three English cricketers ramped home with jaw-dropping ease, losing only three wickets in the process. Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root gave a glimpse of amazing centuries registering in history as the ninth most successful run-chase in Test cricket.
10. Australia 362/7 – Georgetown, 1978
Australia had to face a massive target of 458 made by the strong team of Pakistan. They took the game in their favor with a lot of skill and resolve, chasing down the target and losing only seven wickets in the process. To help pull off the chase, Graeme Wood and Craig Serjeant contributed centuries in difficult circumstances.
Test Cricket Matches – Match Records and Statistics – Highest Run Chases
Highest Succesful run-chases in Test matches:
| Team | Score | Target | Opposition | Venue | Year |
| West Indies | 418/7 | 418 | Australia | St John’s | 2003 |
| South Africa | 414/4 | 414 | Australia | Perth | 2008 |
| Australia | 404/3 | 404 | England | Leeds | 1948 |
| India | 406/4 | 403 | West Indies | Port of Spain | 1976 |
| West Indies | 395/7 | 395 | Bangladesh | Chattogram | 2021 |
| Sri Lanka | 391/6 | 388 | Zimbabwe | Colombo (RPS) | 2017 |
| India | 387/4 | 387 | England | Chennai | 2008 |
| England | 378/3 | 378 | India | Birmingham | 2022 |
| Pakistan | 382/3 | 377 | Sri Lanka | Pallekele | 2015 |
| Australia | 369/6 | 369 | Pakistan | Hobart | 1999 |