Yup, it’s another cricket statistics post. Continue at your peril.
Last week England lost a Test match (the 5th Test in Chennai) by an innings, after scoring 477 in the 1st innings, that too after winning the toss and choosing to bat first. The defeat followed on the heels of a similar defeat in the previous Test match, where England had scored 400 in the 1st innings.
That made me think. What are the highest 1st innings scores where the side batting first has gone on to lose the match? And as a corollary, what are the lowest 1st innings scores where the side batting first has gone on to win the match?
Here they are:
Highest first innings total for a team batting first that went on to lose the match:
That’s right, the recent England loss doesn’t even make it into the top ten.
And here’s the corollary. Lowest first innings total for a team batting first that went on to win the match:
Score 586 and lose. Score 45 and win.
Cricket.