In the ongoing second test between Australia and England at Adelaide, England posted a tatal of 620 for 5 declared. England’s innings contained four three figure partnerships – 173 for the second wicket between AN Cook and IJL Trott : 174 runs for the third wicket between AN Cook and KP Pietersen : 101 runs between KP Pietersen and PD Collingwood and 116 runs for the fifth wicket between KP Pietersen and IR Bell.

England batsmen’s feat provides the eighth occasion of a team posting four three figure partnerships in an innings in the annals of test cricket. It also provides the second occasion of England’s batsmen performing such a feat against Australia, the first such occasion was at The Oval in 1938 in England’s first innings.

The following are the other seven occasions in which a team has posted four three figure partnerships

England posted a total of 903 for seven declared against Australia at The Oval in Aug 1938. England’s first innings contained four three figure partnerships – 382 runs for the second wicket between L Hutton and M Leyland : 135 runs for the third wicket between L Hutton and WR Hammond : 215 runs for the sixth wicket between L Hutton and J Hardstaff Jr and 106 runs for the seventh wicket between J Hardstaff Jr and A Wood.

West Indies posted 631 against India at Delhi in Nov 1948 : West Indian first innings contained four three figure partnerships – 267 runs for the fourth wicket between CL Walcott and GE Gomez : 101 for the sixth wicket between ED Weekes and JDC Goddard : 118 for the seventh wicket between ED Weekes and RJ Christiani and 106 for the ninth wicket between RJ Christiani and DS Atkinson

Pakistan posted a total of 657 for eight declared in its second innings against West Indies at Bridgetown in Jan 1958. Pakistan’s second innings contained four three figure partnerships – 152 for the first wicket between Imtiaz Ahmed and Hanif Mohmmad : 112 runs for the second wicket between Hanif Mohammad and Alimuddin : 154 runs for the third wicket between Hanif Mohammad and Saeed Ahmed and 121 runs for the fourth wicket between Hanif Mohammad and Wazir Mohmmad. This is the only occasion when a team has posted three figure partnerships for the first four wickets in the annals of test cricket.

India posted a total of 644 for seven declared against West Indies at Kanpur in Feb 1979. India’s first innings contained four three figure partnerships – 144 for the third wicket between CPS Chauhan and GR Viswanath : 172 runs for the fourth wicket between GR Viswanath and AD Gaekwad : 109 runs for the fifth wicket between AD Gaekwad and M Amarnath and 102 runs between M Amarnath and N Kapil Dev

Pakistan posted a total of 699 for five against India at Lahore in Dec 1989. Pakistan’s first innings contained four three figure partnerships – 100 runs for the first wicket between Aamer Malik and Ramiz Raja : 123 runs for the second wicket between Ramiz Raja and Saleem Malik : 246 runs for the fourth wicket between Javed Miandad and Shoaib Mohammad and 134 runs for the fifth wicket between Shoaib Mohammad and Imran Khan

Australia posted a total of 605 for 9 declared against West Indies at Bridgetown in May 2003. Australia’s first innings contained four three figure partnerships – 108 runs for the second wicket between JL Langer and RT Ponting : 141 runs for the third wicket between RT Ponting and DS Lehmann : 113 runs for the fifth wicket between AC Gilchrist and SR Waugh an 124 runs for the sixth wicket between SR Waugh and AJ Bichel.

Pakistan posted a total of 765 for 6 wickets declared against Sri Lanka at Karachi in Feb 2009. Paksistan’s first innings contained four three figure partnerships – 149 runs for the third wicket between Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik : 130 runs for the fourth wicket between Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq : 174 runs for the fifth wicket between Younis Khan and Faisal Iqbal and 169 runs unfinished stand for the seventh wicket between Kamran Akmal and Yasir Arafat