Highest partnership in Test cricket: the 624 that has stood since 2006, and the record for every wicket

Two Sri Lankan pairs feature in the top five list for the highest partnership in Test.

The highest partnership in Test cricket is 624, made by Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara for Sri Lanka against South Africa at the SSC in Colombo, starting on 27 July 2006. It is the only stand of 600 in the history of the format, and it is 48 runs clear of the one behind it.

Sri Lanka were 14 for 2 inside four overs when they came together. They batted through the whole of the second day and were not separated until the total had reached 638. Jayawardene made 374 from 572 balls, 26 short of Brian Lara’s record for the highest individual Test score; Sangakkara made 287 from 457. Between them they hit 78 fours and one six. Sri Lanka declared on 756 for 5 and won by an innings and 153 runs.

The record they broke, in the innings that is still the highest team total

Before that it belonged to Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama, also of Sri Lanka, who put on 576 for the second wicket against India at the RPS in Colombo in August 1997. That innings finished at 952 for 6 declared, which is still the highest team total in Test cricket and 49 runs more than any other. Jayasuriya made 340 and Mahanama 225.

Every 400-run partnership in Test cricket

There have been 17, complete to 6 September 2026. Sri Lanka have four of them, including the top two.

Runs	Wicket	Pair	Team	Opponent	Venue	Date
624	3rd	Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	South Africa	Colombo (SSC)	27 Jul 2006
576	2nd	Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama	Sri Lanka	India	Colombo (RPS)	2 Aug 1997
467	3rd	Martin Crowe and Andrew Jones	New Zealand	Sri Lanka	Wellington	31 Jan 1991
454	4th	Harry Brook and Joe Root	England	Pakistan	Multan	7 Oct 2024
451	2nd	Don Bradman and Bill Ponsford	Australia	England	The Oval	18 Aug 1934
451	3rd	Javed Miandad and Mudassar Nazar	Pakistan	India	Hyderabad (Sind)	14 Jan 1983
449	4th	Shaun Marsh and Adam Voges	Australia	West Indies	Hobart	10 Dec 2015
446	2nd	Conrad Hunte and Garry Sobers	West Indies	Pakistan	Kingston	26 Feb 1958
438	2nd	Marvan Atapattu and Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe	Bulawayo	14 May 2004
437	4th	Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera	Sri Lanka	Pakistan	Karachi	21 Feb 2009
429*	3rd	Boeta Dippenaar and Jacques Rudolph	South Africa	Bangladesh	Chattogram	24 Apr 2003
415	1st	Neil McKenzie and Graeme Smith	South Africa	Bangladesh	Chattogram	29 Feb 2008
413	1st	Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy	India	New Zealand	Chennai	6 Jan 1956
411	4th	Colin Cowdrey and Peter May	England	West Indies	Birmingham	30 May 1957
410	1st	Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag	India	Pakistan	Lahore	13 Jan 2006
405	5th	Sid Barnes and Don Bradman	Australia	England	Sydney	13 Dec 1946
401	6th	Roston Chase and Amir Jangoo	West Indies	Sri Lanka	North Sound	25 Jun 2026

Three names appear twice: Jayawardene, Sangakkara and Don Bradman. Every one of the 17 was made for one of the first six wickets, and until June 2026 every one had been made for one of the first five.

Two of the 17 have been made since 2024

Harry Brook and Joe Root put on 454 for the fourth wicket against Pakistan at Multan in October 2024, Brook making 317 and Root 262. England declared on 823 for 7, the fourth-highest total in Test history, and won by an innings and 47 runs. That stand took the fourth-wicket record from Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh, whose 449 at Hobart in 2015 had held it for nine years.

Roston Chase and Amir Jangoo added 401 for the sixth wicket against Sri Lanka at North Sound in June 2026, Jangoo making 233 and Chase 194 in a West Indies total of 626 for 9 declared. It is the first partnership of 400 for the sixth wicket or lower in 149 years of Test cricket, and it took the sixth-wicket record from Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow, whose 399 at Cape Town in January 2016 it beat by two runs.

Highest Test partnership for each wicket

The lower down the order a stand happens, the smaller the record gets, and the gap is not gradual. The first six wickets have all produced 400; nothing for the seventh or lower has ever reached 350.

Wicket	Pair	Team	Runs	Opponent	Venue	Date
1st	Neil McKenzie and Graeme Smith	South Africa	415	Bangladesh	Chattogram	29 Feb 2008
2nd	Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama	Sri Lanka	576	India	Colombo (RPS)	2 Aug 1997
3rd	Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	624	South Africa	Colombo (SSC)	27 Jul 2006
4th	Harry Brook and Joe Root	England	454	Pakistan	Multan	7 Oct 2024
5th	Sid Barnes and Don Bradman	Australia	405	England	Sydney	13 Dec 1946
6th	Roston Chase and Amir Jangoo	West Indies	401	Sri Lanka	North Sound	25 Jun 2026
7th	Denis Atkinson and Clairmonte Depeiaza	West Indies	347	Australia	Bridgetown	14 May 1955
8th	Stuart Broad and Jonathan Trott	England	332	Pakistan	Lord’s	26 Aug 2010
9th	Mark Boucher and Pat Symcox	South Africa	195	Pakistan	Johannesburg	14 Feb 1998
10th	James Anderson and Joe Root	England	198	India	Nottingham	9 Jul 2014

Two of these ten have changed hands since 2024 — the fourth and the sixth — and the other eight are all at least twelve years old. Two of them were set before 1960.

India’s highest Test partnership

India’s best is 413 for the first wicket, by Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy against New Zealand at Chennai in January 1956. It was the world record opening stand for 52 years, until Neil McKenzie and Graeme Smith made 415 at Chattogram in 2008, and it is still India’s highest for any wicket. Mankad made 231 and Roy 173.

Second on India’s list is another opening partnership: Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag’s 410 against Pakistan at Lahore in January 2006, with Sehwag on 254 and Dravid 128 not out. India are the only side with two 400-run opening stands.

Common questions

What is the highest partnership in Test cricket? 624, by Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara for Sri Lanka against South Africa at Colombo in July 2006. It is the only 600-run stand in Test history.

How many 400-run partnerships have there been in Tests? Seventeen. The most recent is Roston Chase and Amir Jangoo’s 401 for the West Indies against Sri Lanka in June 2026.

What is the highest partnership for the last wicket in a Test? 198, by James Anderson and Joe Root for England against India at Nottingham in July 2014. Root was 154 not out at the other end and Anderson made 81.

What is India’s highest Test partnership? 413, by Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy against New Zealand at Chennai in 1956, for the first wicket.

Which pair has the most 400-run stands? Jayawardene and Sangakkara each appear twice on the list, but not together twice — their 624 is the only stand the two of them share on it.

Our other partnership lists cover the highest partnership in the Ashes and the highest partnership in a T20 World Cup.

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Featured photo: AFP / Sanka Vidanagama