Kumar Sangakkara overhauls Allan Border; becomes 8th top scorer in Test cricket

Kumar Sangakkara

Kumar Sangakkara overtook former Allan Border to become the 8th highest scorer in Test history on Friday.

The Sri Lankan number three started the day on 11151 runs, just 23 runs short of Border’s total. In the 30th over of Sri Lanka’s innings in the first Test against England at Lord’s, Sangakkara guided a delivery, well outside the off stump, for a boundary past point to get past the former Australian batsman’s runs tally.

Next in line for the 36-year-old is his teammate Mahela Jayawardene, who at the end of day’s play, is 136 runs ahead of him.

The top six run scorers in Test cricket are Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid, Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. With Chanderpaul the only player active from the list, Sangakkara has a good chance to climb up the order.

Sangakkara’s average of 58.24 is the best among the top eight run scorers of all-time.