Eight centuries in one Test: the record shared by St John’s and Galle

The record for the most centuries in a men’s Test match is eight. Here, “centuries” means individual innings of 100 or more across both teams—not hundreds scored by one batter. The record is shared by two matches:

• West Indies vs South Africa at St John’s, Antigua, in 2005
• Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh at Galle in 2013

Both Tests were drawn. ESPNcricinfo’s match-record table lists the two games jointly at the top, a result also recorded by the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ESPNcricinfo; ACS). The record remains eight as of 30 September 2026.

The eight centuries at St John’s in 2005

South Africa made 588 for six declared, with four centurions. West Indies replied with 747 and four more. The full scorecard records the eight innings:

Team	Batter	Score
South Africa	AB de Villiers	114
South Africa	Graeme Smith	126
South Africa	Jacques Kallis	147
South Africa	Ashwell Prince	131
West Indies	Chris Gayle	317
West Indies	Ramnaresh Sarwan	127
West Indies	Shivnarine Chanderpaul	127
West Indies	Dwayne Bravo	107

This was the first Test to reach eight hundreds. All eight were made by different batters, and all came in the teams’ first innings. Gayle’s 317 was the largest contribution, but it counts as one century, not three.

South Africa then reached 127 for one in its second innings before the match ended. The teams’ first innings alone produced 1,335 runs and occupied 398.2 overs.

The eight centuries at Galle in 2013

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh equalled the record eight years later. This time the hundreds were spread across three innings, and only seven players made them because Kumar Sangakkara scored a century in both of Sri Lanka’s innings.

Innings	Batter	Score
Sri Lanka first innings	Kumar Sangakkara	142
Sri Lanka first innings	Lahiru Thirimanne	155*
Sri Lanka first innings	Dinesh Chandimal	116*
Bangladesh first innings	Mohammad Ashraful	190
Bangladesh first innings	Mushfiqur Rahim	200
Bangladesh first innings	Nasir Hossain	100
Sri Lanka second innings	Tillakaratne Dilshan	126
Sri Lanka second innings	Kumar Sangakkara	105

The Galle scorecard shows Sri Lanka declaring at 570 for four, Bangladesh replying with 638, and Sri Lanka making 335 for four declared. Bangladesh faced 22 overs in the final innings and finished on 70 for one.

The contrast matters: St John’s had eight different centurions in two innings, whereas Galle had eight century innings across three innings. The record category counts hundreds scored, not the number of different players who reached 100.

What counts as one century?

For this record, one individual innings of 100 or more counts as one century:

• 100 and 100* each count as one.
• A double or triple century still counts as one century innings.
• A player can contribute twice to the match total by making a hundred in each innings, as Sangakkara did at Galle.
• Team totals and century partnerships do not count.

That distinction prevents a common misreading of the St John’s scorecard: Gayle’s 317 supplied 317 runs but only one of the match’s eight hundreds.

This is also different from the record for the most centuries in one team innings. That mark is five, achieved by Australia against West Indies at Kingston in 1955 and Pakistan against Bangladesh at Multan in 2001 (ESPNcricinfo’s innings record).

Finally, “most centuries in a Test match” is a match record, not a career record. Sachin Tendulkar’s 51 hundreds are the men’s career benchmark; his wider career figures appear in our guide to the most runs in Test cricket.