There have been 31 Triple Hundreds scored by 27 different batters in the 146+ years history of Test Cricket. This shows that it is one of the most difficult achievements to score a triple century in Test Cricket. It is like a bowler taking 8 wickets in an innings and that does not happen often. Very few cricket fans would know who scored the first triple hundred, some will say Don Bradman and some others might say Wally Hammond but it is neither of the other. It was Andy Sandham of England who hit the first ever Triple Hundred in 1930 against the West Indies.
Who scored the first triple century in Test Cricket history?
Andy Sandham of England made history in 1930 by scoring the first-ever triple century in Test Cricket, a remarkable feat against West Indies in Jamaica. Playing a mammoth innings of 325 runs, Sandham's achievement set a new benchmark in the sport.
Let’s talk about this extraordinary innings that set a totally new benchmark in Test Cricket.
Andy Sandham creates history in Test Cricket
It was the year 1930 and it had already been 53 years since Test Cricket had been played but there were no batters who had surpassed the mountain of getting a 300 in a test innings. And as it said records are meant to be broken and that is exactly what happened in 1930 in a Test Match between England vs West Indies. It was being held in Jamaica where the batters do not find it easy to hit the ball to all parts. Andy Sandham on this day was determined to create history and not get out. He played a mammoth 640 balls in this innings which is close to 107 overs of batting by one man. He hit 28 fours in this innings meaning 112 Runs in boundaries.
He ran for 213 runs and had a strike rate of 50.78 throughout the innings. Andy Sandham had created history as he became the first man to hit a triple century in Test Cricket. He played with determination to not get out as well as score runs for his country. West Indies was a very good team back in the day and they were difficult to beat at home. Andy Sandham made 325 runs which is among the Top 5 Highest Individual Scores by an England batter in Test Cricket. He did not just stop at 300 but he tried to make even more history and in the process got bowled. His runs for the match had not finished as in the last innings of his test career he smashed 50 runs in just 62 balls with 6 fours meaning 24 runs in boundaries. He had a strike rate of 80.65 in this innings.
Andy Sandham showed in the last 2 innings of his test career that he could play the defensive role as well as the attacking role in the same test match. He made 375 runs in his last test match which is also one of the highest in the history of Test Cricket. After this 30 more Triple Hundreds were scored and the quickest was Virender Sehwag when he hit 300 from just 278 balls against South Africa. Brian Lara has 2 out the 3 highest scores in Test with 400* and 375. The last triple hundred was hit by David Warner against Pakistan in 2019 when he hit 335*. It has been 4 years since a batter has hit 300 in a test innings.
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