Test centuries breakdown of top players

[On_the_up]

All this talk of Tendulkar not batting well when it counts, I thought I'll compile a list of the breakdown of centuries in each of the inns for top batsmen. Last 4 columns are the centuries scored in each inns of the test match for what they are worth. Thing to note is that players don't all start equally as Ricky Ponting playing for a very successful Aistralian side might not be chasing large enough totals in the 4t inns to get a century as often as say Lara, who was playing for a poor West Indian side.

Player Mat Runs HS Ave 100 50 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
SR Tendulkar 155 12413 248* 54.68 41 51 19 12 7 3
RT Ponting 125 10465 257 57.18 36 42 18 12 2 4
SM Gavaskar 125 10122 236* 51.12 34 45 11 12 7 4
BC Lara 131 11953 400* 52.88 34 48 12 13 7 2
SR Waugh 168 10927 200 51.06 32 50 17 13 2 0
ML Hayden 100 8508 380 51.87 30 29 10 9 10 1
JH Kallis 125 9801 189* 55.06 30 48 12 10 7 1
DG Bradman 52 6996 334 99.94 29 13 9 10 7 3
AR Border 156 11174 205 50.56 27 63 9 7 9 2
GS Sobers 93 8032 365* 57.78 26 30 11 7 6 2
Inzamam-ul-Haq 120 8830 329 49.60 25 46 9 10 5 1
R Dravid 130 10373 270 52.12 25 53 10 10 4 1
Younis Khan 58 4816 267 49.14 15 20 4 5 3 3

[12thMan]

Bradman has the best stats followed by Hayden (I guess). I am guessing again that Gavaskar, Ponting and Tendulkar are fighting for 3rd spot.

If the thread is about Tendu is best or not bad then leave this out. I just looked at the number of tests and centuries. For Tendu or any other player debate I leave that for other interested parties. But nice stats

[On_the_up]

No this thread isn't to prove that Tendulkar is best, the talk of Tendulkar never winning matches got me thinking about this, thats all. I wondered how the other batsmen would compare.

[12thMan]

No this thread isn't to prove that Tendulkar is best, the talk of Tendulkar never winning matches got me thinking about this, thats all. I wondered how the other batsmen would compare.Well he has been doing alright. I guess averages of 3rd & 4th innings would have also been good but I am sure Bradman and Hayden are still good good. I think Gavaskar has been exceptional in later innings too. Don't know about the rest

[waqar akram]

you forgot the GREAT younis khan.
he has 3 fourth inning centuries and 3 fifities and his 3 fourth inning centures were scored in consecutive innings agaisnt
south africa in oct 2007 at karachi
south africa in oct 2007 at lahore
india in nov 2007 at kolkata.

this is called true matchsaver in the 4th innings. 3 CONSECUTIVE MATCHES is quite a remarkable achievemnt.

his 4th ining stats
innings 17
runs 672
avg 56

[kingusama92]

you forgot the GREAT younis khan.
he has 3 fourth inning centuries and 3 fifities and his 3 fourth inning centures were scored in consecutive innings agaisnt
south africa in oct 2007 at karachi
south africa in oct 2007 at lahore
india in nov 2007 at kolkata.

this is called true matchsaver in the 4th innings. 3 CONSECUTIVE MATCHES is quite a remarkable achievemnt.

his 4th ining stats
innings 17
runs 672
avg 56

Younis Khan has the chance to become the best batsman to ever have played for Pakistan.. he has probably 6-7 years left in him... he should be able to cross 10000 runs in both forms of the game, plus he's becoming quite clutch these days....

[minhasuz]

If Yousuf played 2-3 more years then he would atleast gotten 30 centuries for sure currently he has 23. I just hope that he plays for Pakistan again InshAllah

[Faisal Akhtar]

What do the stats in this thread prove?

how about how many of Sachins centuries that have actually won games?

i think then u'll see Sachin slide much further down the table.

[On_the_up]

you forgot the GREAT younis khan.
he has 3 fourth inning centuries and 3 fifities and his 3 fourth inning centures were scored in consecutive innings agaisnt
south africa in oct 2007 at karachi
south africa in oct 2007 at lahore
india in nov 2007 at kolkata.

this is called true matchsaver in the 4th innings. 3 CONSECUTIVE MATCHES is quite a remarkable achievemnt.

his 4th ining stats
innings 17
runs 672
avg 56
I chose the top 12 century makers in tests, but might include Younis Khan in there as he seems to have good stats for the 4th inns.
Will also try to post 4th inns averages for these players if I get some time. Even better if someone else can do so.

[Random Aussie]

What do the stats in this thread prove?


That not many players score hundreds in the fourth inning.

[On_the_up]

What do the stats in this thread prove?

how about how many of Sachins centuries that have actually won games?

i think then u'll see Sachin slide much further down the table.
Read post no 3 regarding Sachin, the list is in decending order of TOTAL test centuries, not who is the best at winning matches in the 4th inns.

[On_the_up]

Its remarkable that Steve Waugh scored 30 out of his 32 tons in the 1st or 2nd inns of a test match, in other words if you got him early in Australia's 1st inns, then he was unlikely to be effective in that test match.

[Random Aussie]

Its remarkable that Steve Waugh scored 30 out of his 32 tons in the 1st or 2nd inns of a test match, in other words if you got him early in Australia's 1st inns, then he was unlikely to be effective in that test match.

Waugh was not required to bat very often in the fourth innings of a Test match.

[On_the_up]

Waugh was not required to bat very often in the fourth innings of a Test match.
Agreed, but would have expected him to have scored more 3rd inns 100s.

[Poison]

Younis Khan has the chance to become the best batsman to ever have played for Pakistan.. he has probably 6-7 years left in him... he should be able to cross 10000 runs in both forms of the game, plus he's becoming quite clutch these days....

LOL no chance yaar. He's 30ish, and the amount of cricket we play nowadays gives him zero chance.

[Random Aussie]

Agreed, but would have expected him to have scored more 3rd inns 100s.

Yeah it is pretty glaring that he was pretty much a first innings century maker.

Averaged 62 batting first and then it goes all the way evenly to averaging 26 in the fourth inning.

What is interesting, remembering for much of his career Waugh did not play in an era where Australia were as dominant as they became under his captaincy, is that he scored 25 centuries where Australia won the Test match. Pretty handy.

[On_the_up]

Steve Waugh's breakdown, I think he batted enough in the 3rd and 4th inns of a test match for these numbers to be meaningful. Averages of 62,58,35,25 from 1st to 4th inns respectively.

1st match innings
Inns 95
Batted 94
NO 16
Runs 4855
HS 199
Avg 62.24
B/F 9576
SR 50.69
100s 17
50s 22
0s 6
4s 515
6s 11

2nd match innings
1986-2004
Inns 73
Batted 72
NO 9
Runs 3703
HS 200
Av 58.77
B/F 7411
SR 49.96
100s 13
50s 16
0s 5
4s 421
6s 7

3rd match innings
1985-2003
Inns 77
Batted 63
NO 14
Runs 1756
HS 134*
Avg 35.83
B/F 4038
SR 43.48
100s 2
50s 10
0s 8
4s 161
6s 2

4th match innings
1986-2004
Inns 52
Batted 31
NO 7
Runs 613
HS 80
Avg 25.54
B/F 1436
SR 42.68
100s 0
50s 2
0s 3
4s 78
6s 0

[kingusama92]

LOL no chance yaar. He's 30ish, and the amount of cricket we play nowadays gives him zero chance.

lol yea i guess the amount of test cricket doesn't give him a chance... ODI 10000 runs should be achievable feat ...

It really depends on how much he wants to play as well as how much our incompetent board tries to get us test matches ...

[Poison]

lol yea i guess the amount of test cricket doesn't give him a chance... ODI 10000 runs should be achievable feat ...

It really depends on how much he wants to play as well as how much our incompetent board tries to get us test matches ...

No doubt he has the talent, the only thing standing in his way is age. He didn't exactly set the world alight his first 3 or 4 years in Pakistan colors, mainly cause he batted so low down the order. But yes, a stalwart for Pakistan :yk