On This Day: Srilanka Legends Sangakara and Jayawardene Made Record Highest Ever Test Partnership

Highest Ever Test Partnership: Two close friends who played for Sri Lankan cricket for the majority of the first fifteen years of the new millennium were Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. They have played some outstanding innings and have carried Sri Lankan cricket on their wide shoulders. They both served as the team’s captains for various periods during this time. There were numerous games where Sri Lanka was saved or moved closer to winning because of a strong pairing between Mahela and Kumar.

The pair achieved their highest-ever test partnership on July 29, 2006. The enormous 624-run contribution made it the biggest partnership in test match cricket history. The previous highest Test partnership, which was formed in 1997 against India by two other Sri Lankan greats Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama, was 576 runs. This test match also saw Sri Lanka set a record with 952 runs scored.

Jayawardene and Sangakkara broke that record, and ever since, it has stood as the highest partnership in test history. South Africa’s bowling attack, which included Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Andre Nel, Andrew Hall, and Nicky Boje, was rather strong against the opposition, but none of them were able to contain the ravaging pair.

Upul Tharanga and Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka’s openers, were taken for quick wickets by Dale Steyn in his first two overs, and it appeared that South Africa could be able to rally back into the game. However, Jayawardene struck first and teamed up with Sangakkara; the rest is history.

After 157 overs, Sri Lanka lost their second wicket when Hall removed Sangakkara for 287. After Jayasuriya, Jayawardene became the second Sri Lankan to hit a triple hundred in a Test with a total of 374. Only Brian Lara’s 400, 375, and Matthew Hayden’s 380 are higher on the list of top test innings, where his 374 is listed at #4.

After continuing to score, Sri Lanka reached 756/5 before declaring with an advantage of 587 runs. Even though South Africa performed better in their second innings, scoring up to four half-centuries, Murali bowled 64 overs and finished with six wickets, and South Africa’s final score of 434 gave Sri Lanka an innings and 153 runs victory.

The record stands still and it is so tall that it might be impossible to break. A lot of Test Cricket is happening and it is very encouraging. The beauty of the innings shall never fail to impress the viewers and we hope we see some other knock, even close to it, soon.