Making hundreds a habit
Most consecutive Tests in which any batsman from a team has scored a century, and the longest similar streaks for five-fors
Travis Basevi and George Binoy
24-Feb-2010

Virender Sehwag's century against South Africa in Kolkata was the 15th Test in a row in which an Indian batsman scored a hundred • Getty Images
Gautam Gambhir recently scored a century in five consecutive Tests, beginning in Napier and ending in Chittagong, where Sachin Tendulkar began a streak of hundreds in four consecutive matches. Tendulkar's Chittagong ton was followed by centuries in Dhaka, and against South Africa in Nagpur and Kolkata - which was India's most recent Test. It means India have had a centurion in their last eight matches, which is part of the second longest streak of Tests a team has had where at least one batsman has made a hundred.
India's run of Tests with at least one century began in October 2008, against Australia in Mohali, where Sourav Ganguly and Gautam Gambhir celebrated hundreds. Since then, one (sometimes two) out of Gambhir, Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag have scored centuries, against Australia in Delhi and Nagpur, against England in Chennai and Mohali, and in Hamilton. That run has now been extended to 15 Tests, and the home series in October 2010 gives India the opportunity to beat the longest ever streak.
That, predictably, belongs to the Australian juggernaut of the early 2000s. Their batsmen scored hundreds in 17 successive Tests between December 2002 and March 2004. They lost only three of those games - in Sydney, where Michael Vaughan made 183; the highest ever run-chase in Antigua; and in Adelaide, where Ricky Ponting's 242 became the highest individual score in a defeat.
Team | Mat | Start Match | Opposition | Scorecard | End Match | Opposition | Scorecard | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | 17 | Dec 26, 2002 | v England | ||||||
West Indies | v Australia | Test 1005 | |||||||
South Africa | 14 | ||||||||
Pakistan | 14 | Dec 26, 2004 | |||||||
South Africa | 13 | Aug 5, 1965 | v England | ||||||
England | v West Indies | Test 326 | |||||||
England | 10 | ||||||||
Pakistan | 10 | Aug 22, 1974 | |||||||
Australia | 10 | Dec 26, 2008 | v South Africa | ||||||
Australia | v Pakistan | Test 790 | |||||||
Pakistan | 9 | ||||||||
South Africa | 9 | Nov 17, 2000 | |||||||
India | 9 | Oct 8, 2003 | v New Zealand | ||||||
The first 10 Tests of Australia's 17 form the longest streak of matches in which at least two batsmen made centuries for a team. Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden began the run at the MCG and it continued until Ponting and Hayden scored centuries against Zimbabwe at the SCG in October 2003. The run ended when only Langer managed a century in the Brisbane Test against India.
Team | Mat | Start Match | Opposition | Scorecard | End Match | Opposition | Scorecard | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | 10 | Dec 26, 2002 | |||||||
India | 7 | Nov 16, 2009 | v Sri Lanka | ||||||
Australia | v England | Test 1824 | |||||||
England | 5 | ||||||||
Pakistan | 5 | Mar 1, 1975 | |||||||
South Africa | 5 | Jan 2, 1999 | v West Indies | ||||||
Australia | v Sri Lanka | Test 1691 | |||||||
Pakistan | 5 | ||||||||
England | 4 | Aug 20, 1938 | |||||||
Australia | 4 | Nov 29, 1946 | v England | ||||||
Australia | v Pakistan | Test 790 | |||||||
Australia | 4 | ||||||||
Australia | 4 | Nov 5, 1999 | |||||||
Australia | 4 | Aug 16, 2001 | v England | ||||||
South Africa | v New Zealand | Test 1848 |
Australia also held the record for five-fors in most consecutive Tests - 17 between July 1905 and February 1911. That mark was beaten by Clive Lloyd's West Indian bowlers, who claimed a five-for in each of 18 matches between November 1983 and December 1984.
That one bowler was able to take a five-for in each match was remarkable considering the formidable components that made up the West Indian attack - Joel Garner, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Wayne Daniel and a young Courtney Walsh. It was Malcolm Marshall who was responsible for most of the five-wicket hauls, taking 11 in 10 Tests. In the games in which Marshall missed out, Garner (four five-fors), Holding (three), Daniel and Roger Harper (one each) cashed in.
Team | Mat | Start Match | Opposition | Scorecard | End Match | Opposition | Scorecard | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | v South Africa | Test 114 | |||||||
Australia | 12 | ||||||||
England | 11 | Aug 11, 1890 | |||||||
Australia | 10 | Jan 28, 1887 | v England | ||||||
New Zealand | v India | Test 899 | |||||||
Pakistan | 10 | ||||||||
India | 10 | Nov 3, 2004 | |||||||
South Africa | 9 | Jun 18, 1998 | v England | ||||||
England | v Australia | Test 53 | |||||||
England | 8 | ||||||||
India | 8 | Mar 28, 1953 | |||||||
South Africa | 8 | Jan 1, 1957 | v England | ||||||
Australia | v England | Test 538 | |||||||
Pakistan | 8 |
The record for most consecutive ODIs with a century in each is six. Sri Lanka achieved it first during their 5-0 rout of England in 2006, followed by their world-record 443 against Netherlands in Amstelveen - Jayasuriya scored three hundreds, Jayawardene and Tharanga two each, and Sangakkara and Dilshan one apiece.
Their run was equalled by Australia, who began their streak of six ODIs with centuries in Auckland in Feb 2007 and carried it into the first four matches of the World Cup. They may have gone on, but Bangladesh were kept to 104 in the first innings of a match that was reduced to 22 overs a side.
Team | Mat | Start Match | Opposition | Scorecard | End Match | Opposition | Scorecard | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sri Lanka | 6 | ||||||||
Australia | 6 | Feb 18, 2007 | |||||||
Pakistan | 5 | Jan 15, 1992 | v Sri Lanka | ||||||
Pakistan | v India | ODI 172 | |||||||
Pakistan | 4 | ||||||||
Sri Lanka | 4 | Nov 3, 1994 | |||||||
Pakistan | 4 | Nov 23, 2002 | v Zimbabwe | ||||||
Ireland | v Canada | ODI 2503 | |||||||
West Indies | 3 | ||||||||
West Indies | 3 | Mar 18, 1987 | |||||||
West Indies | 3 | Jan 22, 1988 | v India | ||||||
Australia | v Sri Lanka | ODI 1039 | |||||||
India | 3 | ||||||||
India | 3 | Sep 20, 1998 | |||||||
Australia | 3 | Feb 26, 2000 | v New Zealand | ||||||
Pakistan | v New Zealand | ODI 1833 | |||||||
South Africa | 3 | ||||||||
West Indies | 3 | Dec 13, 2006 | |||||||
England | 3 | Feb 2, 2007 | v Australia | ||||||
India | v Bangladesh | ODI 2721 | |||||||
Australia | 3 | ||||||||
Sri Lanka | 3 | Jan 4, 2010 |
Teams have taken four-fors in four consecutive ODIs on ten different occasions but no one has managed to do five in a row. Australia were the first, in 1979-80, and Sri Lanka were the most recent team to do it in 2008
Team | Mat | Start Match | Opposition | Scorecard | End Match | Opposition | Scorecard | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | 4 | ||||||||
Pakistan | 4 | Nov 2, 1990 | |||||||
India | 4 | Jan 4, 1991 | v Sri Lanka | ||||||
Australia | v New Zealand | ODI 1877 | |||||||
West Indies | 4 | ||||||||
Sri Lanka | 4 | Feb 14, 2003 | |||||||
West Indies | 4 | Jul 1, 2007 | v England | ||||||
Sri Lanka | v Zimbabwe | ODI 2780 |
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George Binoy is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo