ICC World Test Championship 2019-21: Team-Wise Most Runs Scored In The Tournament

The final of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (WTC) is set to be played this week from June 18th between the top two sides, India and New Zealand, in Southampton.

The marquee clash promises high entertainment between the two best Test outfits in the world. Virat Kohli’s team finished as the leaders in the league stage of the ICC WTC, while Kane Williamson’s side is now the number 1 ICC Test side following their 1-0 series win over England at Edgbaston on Sunday.

Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne was the top scorer in the cycle with 1675 runs followed by England skipper Joe Root with 1660. But which was the team with the highest runs scored during this two-year cycle? Let’s find out how many runs each team scored in total.

ICC World Test Championship 2019-21: Team-Wise Most Runs Scored In The Tournament

9. Bangladesh – 3175 runs

Bangladesh finished at the bottom of the ICC WTC table; they were winless in their 7 matches – 6 loss and 1 draw – in this cycle. Their series loss to West Indies, 2-0 at home was their lowest point, having been touted as a strong outfit in home condition.

Overall Bangladesh’s batsman could muster 3175 runs at an average of 25.19; captain Mominul Haque was their leading run-scorer in this particular tournament scoring 534 runs with the help of a couple of centuries. Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Najmul Hossain Shanto were the only other two batters to reach three digits.

8. New Zealand – 4789 runs

One of the two ICC WTC finalists, New Zealand didn’t score heavy runs, but we need to keep in mind that they played the second least number of matches. Out of the total 4789 runs scored by 21 different Kiwi batters, captain Kane Williamson alone recorded 817 runs at 58.35 and thumped 3 hundreds. Henry Nicholls notched up a couple of centuries, and 4 others one each.

New Zealand have been an extremely home-dominating side, winning all 6 of their home matches – two each against India, West Indies, and Pakistan. They drew 1-1 in Sri Lanka before being thrashed 3-0 in Australia.

7. West Indies – 5098 runs

Just 4 different batsmen – Kraigg Brathwaite, Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, and Kyle Mayers – notched up tons from the West Indies side during the ICC WTC 2019-21 cycle. A total of 5098 runs were scored by the Caribbean batters in this period, with the new skipper, Kraigg Brathwaite, leading the run chart.

The West Indies have won 3 matches out of 12 they have played, with one game against South Africa left. They started their ICC WTC campaign poorly with a 2-0 home series white-wash by the hand of India, then lost away to England and New Zealand.

Things seemed to change under Brathwaite with an astonishing 2-0 win in Bangladesh, which was followed by a home 0-0 draw with Sri Lanka.

6. South Africa – 5298 runs

South Africa twice saw the change in captaincy during this two-year period in the ICC WTC – from Faf du Plessis to Quinton de Kock, in the interim role, and now opener Dean Elgar is appointed their new permanent skipper. They started the journey with a 3-0 drubbing in India, then lost 3-1 to England at home.

The Protea defeated Sri Lanka 2-0 at home, but their joy didn’t last long as they were battered 2-0 by Pakistan in Pakistan. Under Elgar, they have started on the right foot with a win in West Indies recently, and have another game to play.

Elgar is their top-scorer so far, followed by Quinton de Kock; both the left-handers have recorded a couple of centuries in this period, and one each from the retired du Plessis and Aiden Markram. In total, the Protea batters have scored 5298 runs at a disappointing average of 25.22 in this cycle so far.

5. Pakistan – 5531 runs

During the inaugural ICC WTC cycle, Pakistan won 4 matches – all at home versus Sri Lanka, Bangladesh(in a truncated series), and South Africa – and lost all three of their away series – in Australia, England, and New Zealand. Towards the end of the cycle, Babar Azam was made the Test captain as well, having already taken that position in white-ball cricket earlier.

Unsurprisingly, Azam was Pakistan’s leading run-scorer during this period. The right-hander scored 932 runs and clubbed 4 centuries; 3 tons were recorded by Shan Masood, and 2 each from Azhar Ali, Abid Ali, and Fawad Alam. All in all, 23 Pakistani batters scored 5531 runs, averaging 30.39.

4. Sri Lanka – 5821 runs

Captain Dimuth Karunaratne was Sri Lanka’s top scorer with 999 runs at 55.50. He slammed 4 hundreds, followed by 3 from Dhananjaya de Silva and a couple from Lahiru Thirimanne. The Lankan batters overall tallied 5821 runs at 30.00 in this cycle.

3. Australia – 7469 runs

Marnus Labuschagne would be finishing as the leading run-scorer of the first edition of the ICC World Test Championship – unless a couple of Indian batters hit an improbable 600 runs in the final – as the Australia number 3 has amassed 1675 runs at a staggering average of 72.82 and notched up 5 centuries and 9 fifties during this period.

Steve Smith, who scored 1341 at 63.85, along with David Warner, who hit an unbeaten triple century, along with contributions from other batters tallied a total of 7469 runs for Australia.

Australia had a dream start to their ICC WTC tournament – they retained the Ashes in England with a 2-2 draw, then rolled over Pakistan and New Zealand winning 5 home matches in a row. However, their place in the WTC final which looked all but certain after taking a 1-0 versus India came in jeopardy as they succumbed to a comeback loss from the Indian side.

Their points were also deducted in one of the India Tests for slow-over rate. As it turned out, those deducted points cost them the final as New Zealand pipped them over after Australia cancelled their tour of South Africa, which was their chance to win and book a berth in the final.

2. India – 7958 runs

25 Indian batsmen combined to score 7958 runs, the second-highest in the ICC WTC 2019-21 cycle, with one more Test, the final, to go. Ajinkya Rahane, who led the side to a historic comeback series win in Australia, is currently the highest scorer for India with 1095 runs, followed by opener Rohit Sharma (1030 runs) and skipper Virat Kohli (877 runs).

Sharma blasted 4 centuries in this period, followed by 3 each from the bats of Rahane and Mayank Agarwal, a couple from Kohli, and one each from Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Hanuma Vihari.

India finished at the top of the WTC table, winning 12 of the 17 games they played and suffered 4 losses. Barring the away series in New Zealand, the Asian giants won all of their series – away in West Indies and Australia, and dominated South Africa, Bangladesh, and England at home.

1.England – 9734 runs

By a significant distance, England are the leading run-scorers in this ICC WTC with a total of 9734 runs. However, the caveat is that the Three Lions played the most number of matches – 21, which is 4 more than India did and 7 more than Australia played.

Captain Joe Root with 1660 runs and 3 centuries is the second leading run-scorer in this tournament behind Labuschagne. Ben Stokes made 1334 runs including 4 hundreds; Dom Sibley notched up a couple of hundreds, while four other batters hit one each.

England finished fourth on the WTC table, after losing the India series 3-1 despite winning the first game. Root’s team registered a 2-0 triumph in Sri Lanka after winning the home series against West Indies and Pakistan. They had also defeated South Africa away and drew the home Ashes.

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