Top 10 most brutal innings in Test cricket

1. Matthew Hayden (380 vs Zimbabwe, Southern Cross trophy 2003)

This one is topmost on the list because it featured one of the most destructive batsmen tearing apart one of the weaker teams in test cricket with the second highest individual score of all time, batting with a healthy strike rate of above 85, taking his team to a victory of an innings and 175 runs. Lara’s 400 came against England and at a strike rate of below 70, and the match did not yield a result.

Australia reached 350 on the first day itself and finally posted an impossible for Zimbabwe to get 735 on the board. Gilchrist also chipped in with a hundred. Hayden was part of all Australian partnerships, two of which yielded more than 200 runs.

Hayden hit 38 fours and 11 huge sixes. He favoured the on-side while scoring and scored more than 200 of his runs in that region. All of his sixes came down the ground between long-on and long-off. He attained the highest individual score at that time in test cricket, breaking all records present (Lara’s 400 came later). The rest of the game panned out as expected, and the choice for the man of the match award was never easier.