The Indian team made a new record in the history of Test cricket as they achieved the fastest 50 for a team in the longest format of the game. Skipper Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal gave a flying start to India in the ongoing Test match against Bangladesh at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. The opening duo smashed 50 runs in just 18 balls to record the fastest 50 for a team in Test cricket.
In Test cricket, the batters usually take time to score runs. However, on a few occasions, the batters choose to change the batting gears due to the condition of the Test match. There have many occasions where the teams have broken several records in batting and went on to achieve several milestones. In the following listicle, we will have a look at the top five teams to score fastest team 50s in Test cricket.
Fastest team 50s in Test cricket
5. Sri Lanka - 32 balls vs Pakistan in 2004
Sri Lanka achieved their fastest fifty in Test cricket in a match against Pakistan in Karachi in October - November 2004. Trailing by 270 runs in the first innings, openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu gave a flying start to Sri Lanka in the second innings as they duo added 117 runs for the first wicket in 21.1 overs. Moreover, Sri Lanka completed 50 runs in just 32 balls i,e. 5.2 overs. Jayasuriya scored 107(129) with hitting 14 fours and a six. On the other hand, Kumar Sangakkara also came up with 138(251) runs with 20 four and a six. However, it wasn’t enough for Sri Lanka as they lost the match by six wickets.
4. England - 30 balls vs Sri Lanka in 2002
England registered a convincing victory over Sri Lanka in Manchester in 2002. After posting 512 runs in the first innings. England bowled Sri Lanka out for 253 runs and 308 runs respectively. Now, the hosts were given a target of 50 runs to win the match. After that, openers Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan didn’t let any wicket fall and achieved the target of 50 runs in the five overs (30 balls), to win the match by 10 wickets.
3. England - 27 balls vs South Africa in 1994
England achieved one of the fastest 50s in Test cricket in the decade of 90s. In a match against South Africa at the Oval in August 1994, England took just 27 balls to complete 50 runs in the second innings and went on to register a convincing eight-wicket win. Chasing a target of 204 runs, skipper Mike Atherton (63 off 113) and Graham Gooch (33 off 20) put up an opening partnership of 56 runs. After that, Graeme Hick scored an unbeaten 81* runs as England chased the target in 35.3 overs losing two wickets.
2. England - 26 balls against West Indies in 2024
England showed their batting prowess against West Indies in Nottingham on July 18, 2024. Batting first, England lost their first wicket on the third ball of the innings as Zak Crawley went for a duck. After that, Ben Duckett (71 off 59) and Ollie Pope (121 off 167) took the innings further and took the score to 50 runs in just 26 balls, i,e. 4.2 overs. Eventually, England won the match by a big margin of 241 runs.
1. India - 18 balls against Bangladesh in 2024
India recently achieved the record for the fastest team 50 in the ongoing Test match against Bangladesh in Kanpur. After bowling Bangladesh out for 233 runs in the first innings, India got a flying start by skipper Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal. The opening pair reached 50 runs in 18 balls (3 overs) in the first innings. Rohit got out after a quickfire 23(11) runs, while Jaiswal scored 72 runs off 51 balls.
