Record partnership of 624 runs… when bowlers yearned for wickets for 3 days

Last updated:January 17, 2025, 09:55 IST

Sri Lanka vs South Africa: Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara hold the world record for the biggest partnership for any wicket in Test. Both the players made a partnership of 624 runs and the team won by an innings and 153 runs. Both of them…read more

New Delhi. The form of Indian batsmen is shaky at the moment. During the Australia tour, the legendary batsman kept yearning for runs. Earlier, Team India’s batsmen were also seen struggling in the home Test series against New Zealand. Partnership is very important for any team in Test cricket. 18 years ago, the pair of Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene and wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara made a partnership of 624 runs and defeated South Africa by an innings and 153 runs at home. This is the world record for the highest partnership for any wicket in Test cricket. Jayawardene and Sangakkara made a record partnership for the second wicket.

It is the year 2006. The first Test match of the series was played between Sri Lanka and South Africa in Colombo from 27 to 31 July. In this test, South Africa batted first. The visiting South Africa was bundled out for 169 runs in the first innings. For Sri Lanka, Dilhara Fernando and Muttiah Muralitharan took 4 wickets each. Sri Lanka won this test after playing just one innings. On behalf of Sri Lanka, captain Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara made a world record partnership of 624 runs and the 9 year old record was also broken. 9 years ago, the Sri Lankan pair of Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama had made a partnership of 576 runs. India vs. This test match played between Sri Lanka was a draw. This was the partnership between both of them for the second wicket. Batting first, India declared its innings after scoring 537 runs for 8 wickets. After this, Sri Lanka drew the match by scoring 952 runs for 6 wickets.

Talking about the Sri Lanka and South Africa match, the biggest innings in this match was played by captain Mahela Jayawardene (374). Kumar Sangakkara (287) supported him/her well. Both made a record partnership of 624 runs for the second wicket. On the basis of this record-breaking innings of Jayawardene and Sangakkara, Sri Lanka won the Colombo Test by an innings margin. South Africa used 8 bowlers to attack Sangakkara and Jayawardene but they kept yearning for wickets for 3 days.

The South African team, which was all out for 169 runs in the first innings, fell behind by 587 runs in the first innings. After this, South Africa scored 434 runs in the second innings. For his/her part, opener Jacques Rudolph scored 90 runs, Andrew Hall played an inning of 64 runs and Mark Boucher contributed 85 runs. Captain Ashwell Prince played an inning of 61 runs.