No centurion for Australia despite posting 511! Highest team totals without individual tons

Harsh Adwani

Highest team totals without an individual century [Source: @ICC/x.com]Highest team totals without an individual century [Source: @ICC/x.com]

The ongoing Ashes has seen some great hitting by the Australian batters. From Travis Head to Steve Smith, there have been some major contributions early in the series.

In the first innings of the match, Australia scored 511 runs with major contributions from Jake Weatherland, Marnus Labuschagne, Smith, and Mitchell Starc. The England batters did not have any answers to their brutal hitting.

This innings was among the highest scores in Test cricket without any player scoring a century. On that note, let’s have a look at the entire list.

5. 511 - Australia v England in 2025, Brisbane

The Pink Ball Test of the Ashes 2025 in Brisbane saw some massive runs being scored. The Aussies were off to a flying start after having conceded 334 runs. Jake Weatherland and Marnus Labuschagne played rapid knocks that helped them set the perfect tone, scoring 72 runs in 78 balls and 65 runs in 78 balls, respectively.

After that, Steve Smith stabilised the innings with his 61 runs in 85 balls. Towards the end, Mitchell Starc also played a blinder to take them to a massive total. His 77 off 141 and a 75-run partnership with Scot Bolland helped them to a gigantic total of 511 runs.

4. 517 - South Africa v Australia in 1998, Adelaide

In their final match of the series against Australia in Adelaide, South Africa were fighting to win the match and end the series in a draw. With that in mind, they were looking for a big score in the first innings after batting first, which they did by scoring 517 runs.

Openers Adam Bacher (64 runs in 161 balls) and Gary Kirsten (77 runs in 155 balls) scored half-centuries to get off to a good start. Even Brian McMillan (87) and number 11 batter Pat Symcox (54) scored half-centuries, but no one could convert them into a hundred. The match eventually ended in a draw.

3. 520-7 - Australia v West Indies in 2009, Perth

Coming out to bat in the final match of the series, Australia’s openers looked in incredible touch. The two laid the perfect foundation, with Shane Watson and Simon Katich almost completing their centuries. Watson scored 89 runs, while Katich missed the three-digit mark by just one run.

Even Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin came close to scoring their hundreds, with scores of 82 and 88, respectively. Eventually, they declared the innings at 520/7 and went on to win the match.

2. 524-9 - India v New Zealand in 1976, Kanpur

The Kanpur Test between India and New Zealand was the second game of the series, resulting in a draw. Batting first on their home ground, India scored a massive total of 524 runs for nine wickets, thanks to six players scoring half-centuries.

Sunil Gavaskar (66), Mohinder Amarnath (70), Gundappa Viswanath (68), Ashok Mankad (50), Syed Kirmani (64), and Bishan Bedi (50) all scored fifties in this innings. The good wicket allowed plenty of runs to be scored by each team before the match ended in a draw.

1. 531 - Sri Lanka v Bangladesh in 2024, Chattogram

Sri Lanka had already won the first match of the Test series and were looking to seal it here. Batting first in the second game, they scored 531 runs. Openers Nishan Madushka and Dimuth Karunaratne set the tone with the scores of 57 and 86, respectively. And then Kusal Mendis joined the party and narrowly missed his century, scoring 93 runs.

Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva continued the resilient batting in the innings and put on a great show, scoring 59 and 70 runs. But the star of the game was Kamindu Mendis, who played an unbeaten knock of 92 runs before the island nation were all out. They went on to win this match and whitewash the series 2-0.