The highest sum of high scores

A reader who calls himself Warks had asked Steven this question: If you totaled the career-best scores of all the players of a team in a match, which XI would have the highest aggregate? His bet was the Australian team for the fifth Ashes Test in 2001, though he calculated the aggregate - 2034 - based on eventual career bests. For example, Jason Gillespie hadn't scored his 201* in 2001 (his best was 46) but it's been included in the total. So we dug up a list of XIs with the highest aggregate of career-best scores, and we did it his way, as well as ours - which is a total of best scores at that point in time.

Warks' guess was 298 runs off the mark. The highest aggregate of career bests for a team to take the field does not belong to a country, but to the ICC-assembled World XI in the Super Test against Australia in 2005. They had Brian Lara, whose 400 not out is a world record, two triple-centurions in Inzamam-ul-Haq and Virender Sehwag, two double-centurions in Graeme Smith and Rahul Dravid, while Jacques Kallis, Andrew Flintoff, Mark Boucher and Daniel Vettori all had centuries. Even Muttiah Muralitharan had a half-century to boast about, while Steve Harmison's best was 49 not out. They aggregated 2332 in all.

At the time of the Super Test, however, not all the members of the World XI had made the high scores they now possess. Sehwag's best was 309 and not 319; Vettori's was 137 not out and not 140, while Harmison's high was 42. The aggregate of 2312 at the time was 340 runs more than the next highest total of career-best scores in a match. It didn't count for much, though, for Australia won the Super Test by 210 runs.

Largest sum of high scores in a team (at the time of the match) - Tests

Team	Mat	HS Sum	HS Max	HS Min		Opposition	Ground	Date	Scorecard
ICC World XI	818	2312	400*	42		v Australia	Sydney	14 Oct 2005	Test 1768
BC Lara 400*, Inzamam-ul-Haq 329, V Sehwag 309, GC Smith 277, R Dravid 270, JH Kallis 189*, A Flintoff 167, DL Vettori 137*, MV Boucher 125, M Muralitharan 67, SJ Harmison 42
India	725	1972	309	23		v Australia	Perth	16 Jan 2008	Test 1862
V Sehwag 309, VVS Laxman 281, R Dravid 270, SR Tendulkar 248*, SC Ganguly 239, W Jaffer 212, MS Dhoni 148, A Kumble 110*, IK Pathan 102, RP Singh 30, I Sharma 23
India	787	1958	319	30		v South Africa	Chennai	26 Mar 2008	Test 1870
V Sehwag 319, VVS Laxman 281, R Dravid 270, SR Tendulkar 248*, SC Ganguly 239, W Jaffer 212, MS Dhoni 148, A Kumble 110*, Harbhajan Singh 66, S Sreesanth 35, RP Singh 30
India	812	1919	319	0*		v Australia	Delhi	29 Oct 2008	Test 1891
V Sehwag 319, VVS Laxman 281, R Dravid 270, SR Tendulkar 248*, SC Ganguly 239, G Gambhir 206, MS Dhoni 148, A Kumble 110*, Z Khan 75, I Sharma 23, A Mishra 0*
India	861	1918	319	23		v Australia	Bangalore	9 Oct 2008	Test 1887
V Sehwag 319, VVS Laxman 281, R Dravid 270, SR Tendulkar 248*, SC Ganguly 239, MS Dhoni 148, G Gambhir 139, A Kumble 110*, Z Khan 75, Harbhajan Singh 66, I Sharma 23
India	821	1899	319	23		v Sri Lanka	Colombo (SSC)	23 Jul 2008	Test 1882
V Sehwag 319, VVS Laxman 281, R Dravid 270, SR Tendulkar 248*, SC Ganguly 239, G Gambhir 139, KD Karthik 129, A Kumble 110*, Z Khan 75, Harbhajan Singh 66, I Sharma 23
India	832	1899	319	23		v Sri Lanka	Galle	31 Jul 2008	Test 1884
V Sehwag 319, VVS Laxman 281, R Dravid 270, SR Tendulkar 248*, SC Ganguly 239, G Gambhir 139, KD Karthik 129, A Kumble 110*, Z Khan 75, Harbhajan Singh 66, I Sharma 23
India	647	1862	309	29		v South Africa	Johannesburg	15 Dec 2006	Test 1823
V Sehwag 309, VVS Laxman 281, R Dravid 270, SR Tendulkar 248*, W Jaffer 212, SC Ganguly 173, MS Dhoni 148, A Kumble 88, Z Khan 75, S Sreesanth 29*, VRV Singh 29
India	658	1862	309	29		v South Africa	Durban	26 Dec 2006	Test 1825
V Sehwag 309, VVS Laxman 281, R Dravid 270, SR Tendulkar 248*, W Jaffer 212, SC Ganguly 173, MS Dhoni 148, A Kumble 88, Z Khan 75, S Sreesanth 29*, VRV Singh 29
Sri Lanka	577	1859	374	16		v Australia	Hobart	16 Nov 2007	Test 1847
DPMD Jayawardene 374, ST Jayasuriya 340, KC Sangakkara 287, MS Atapattu 249, LPC Silva 152*, MG Vandort 140, HAPW Jayawardene 120*, MF Maharoof 72, M Muralitharan 67, SL Malinga 42*, CRD Fernando 16
Australia	800	1852	380	39		v England	Brisbane	23 Nov 2006	Test 1817
ML Hayden 380, RT Ponting 257, JL Langer 250, AC Gilchrist 204*, MEK Hussey 182, DR Martyn 165, MJ Clarke 151, SK Warne 99, B Lee 64, GD McGrath 61, SR Clark 39

The team that secured India's first Test victory in Perth had an aggregate high score of 1972 - the most for any country at the time of a match. Sehwag had a triple; Dravid, Laxman, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Jaffer possessed doubles; Dhoni, Kumble and Pathan had hundreds; and RP Singh's and Ishant Sharma's best totaled 53. Variations of the same side occupy slots 2 to 8 in the table above, after which Australia and Sri Lanka come into the picture.

A Sri Lankan XI comprising Jayawardene, Jayasuriya, Sangakkara, Atapattu, Samaraweera, Tillakaratne, Dilshan, Vaas, Muralitharan, and a couple of other variables now has the highest aggregate of individual scores at any stage of the player's career. The first Australian side that appears in the table below is the one that lost to West Indies at the MCG in 1996. The players involved ended their careers with high scores that totaled 2312 runs. But how many would have bet in 1996 on Glenn McGrath ever making a half-century? His average at the time was 3.35.

Largest sum of high scores in a team (at any stage in career) - Tests

Team	Mat	HS Sum	HS Max	HS Min		Opposition	Ground	Date	Scorecard
ICC World XI	1191	2332	400*	49*		v Australia	Sydney	14 Oct 2005	Test 1768
BC Lara 400*, Inzamam-ul-Haq 329, V Sehwag 319, GC Smith 277, R Dravid 270, JH Kallis 189*, A Flintoff 167, DL Vettori 140, MV Boucher 125, M Muralitharan 67, SJ Harmison 49*
Sri Lanka	888	2174	374	62*		v Australia	Galle	8 Mar 2004	Test 1685
DPMD Jayawardene 374, ST Jayasuriya 340, KC Sangakkara 287, MS Atapattu 249, TT Samaraweera 231, HP Tillakaratne 204*, TM Dilshan 168, WPUJC Vaas 100*, UDU Chandana 92, M Muralitharan 67, HDPK Dharmasena 62*
Sri Lanka	890	2148	374	36*		v England	Colombo (SSC)	18 Dec 2003	Test 1675
DPMD Jayawardene 374, ST Jayasuriya 340, KC Sangakkara 287, MS Atapattu 249, TT Samaraweera 231, HP Tillakaratne 204*, TM Dilshan 168, WPUJC Vaas 100*, UDU Chandana 92, M Muralitharan 67, CRD Fernando 36*
Sri Lanka	874	2133	374	51*		v England	Kandy	10 Dec 2003	Test 1672
DPMD Jayawardene 374, ST Jayasuriya 340, KC Sangakkara 287, MS Atapattu 249, TT Samaraweera 231, HP Tillakaratne 204*, TM Dilshan 168, WPUJC Vaas 100*, M Muralitharan 67, HDPK Dharmasena 62*, KADM Fernando 51*
Australia	1148	2132	380	61		v West Indies	Melbourne	26 Dec 1996	Test 1346
ML Hayden 380, MA Taylor 334*, JL Langer 250, GS Blewett 214, JN Gillespie 201*, SR Waugh 200, IA Healy 161*, ME Waugh 153*, SK Warne 99, PR Reiffel 79*, GD McGrath 61
Sri Lanka	850	2112	374	45		v Zimbabwe	Galle	12 Jan 2002	Test 1585
DPMD Jayawardene 374, ST Jayasuriya 340, KC Sangakkara 287, MS Atapattu 249, TT Samaraweera 231, HP Tillakaratne 204*, RP Arnold 123, WPUJC Vaas 100*, UDU Chandana 92, M Muralitharan 67, TCB Fernando 45
Sri Lanka	843	2112	374	67		v South Africa	Galle	4 Aug 2004	Test 1709
DPMD Jayawardene 374, ST Jayasuriya 340, KC Sangakkara 287, MS Atapattu 249, TT Samaraweera 231, TM Dilshan 168, RS Kaluwitharana 132*, WPUJC Vaas 100*, UDU Chandana 92, MF Maharoof 72, M Muralitharan 67
India	948	2098	319	66		v Sri Lanka	Chennai	2 Dec 2005	Test 1775
V Sehwag 319, VVS Laxman 281, R Dravid 270, SR Tendulkar 248*, SC Ganguly 239, G Gambhir 206, MS Dhoni 148, A Kumble 110*, AB Agarkar 109*, IK Pathan 102, Harbhajan Singh 66
Australia	1178	2095	380	61		v India	Mumbai	27 Feb 2001	Test 1531
ML Hayden 380, RT Ponting 257, JL Langer 250, MJ Slater 219, AC Gilchrist 204*, JN Gillespie 201*, SR Waugh 200, ME Waugh 153*, SK Warne 99, DW Fleming 71*, GD McGrath 61
Australia	1047	2093	380	61		v South Africa	Johannesburg	28 Feb 1997	Test 1356
ML Hayden 380, MA Taylor 334*, GS Blewett 214, JN Gillespie 201*, SR Waugh 200, MTG Elliott 199, IA Healy 161*, ME Waugh 153*, SK Warne 99, MG Bevan 91, GD McGrath 61

The ICC's World XI, India and the Asia XI top the charts in ODIs. The largest sum of the ODI high scores of players in a team is 1306 - by the World XI in the second Super Series ODI against Australia in Melbourne. That team, however, effectively had 12 people because of the now-defunct Super-sub rule.

The first national team to appear in the table is India's XI against South Africa in Hyderabad in 2005. The aggregate of their high scores was 1270. There were seven centurions, Ajit Agarkar and Pathan who had half-centuries, while Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik and RP singh had bests of 46, 32* and 9*.

Largest sum of high scores in a team (at the time of the match) - ODIs

Team	Mat	HS Sum	HS Max	HS Min		Opposition	Ground	Date	Scorecard
ICC World XI	2010	1306	169	19		v Australia	Melbourne (Docklands	7 Oct 2005	ODI 2283
BC Lara 169, CH Gayle 153*, R Dravid 153, JH Kallis 139, V Sehwag 130, A Flintoff 123, KP Pietersen 116, KC Sangakkara 103*, DL Vettori 83, SM Pollock 75, Shoaib Akhtar 43, M Muralitharan 19
ICC World XI	2201	1298	169	19		v Australia	Melbourne (Docklands	9 Oct 2005	ODI 2284
BC Lara 169, CH Gayle 153*, R Dravid 153, JH Kallis 139, V Sehwag 130, A Flintoff 123, Shahid Afridi 109, KC Sangakkara 103*, DL Vettori 83, SM Pollock 75, M Ntini 42*, M Muralitharan 19
India	1369	1270	186*	9*		v South Africa	Hyderabad (Deccan)	16 Nov 2005	ODI 2297
SR Tendulkar 186*, MS Dhoni 183*, R Dravid 153, Yuvraj Singh 139, V Sehwag 130, M Kaif 111*, G Gambhir 103, AB Agarkar 95, IK Pathan 83, Harbhajan Singh 46, M Kartik 32*, RP Singh 9*
India	1381	1270	186*	9*		v South Africa	Bangalore	19 Nov 2005	ODI 2298
SR Tendulkar 186*, MS Dhoni 183*, R Dravid 153, Yuvraj Singh 139, V Sehwag 130, M Kaif 111*, G Gambhir 103, AB Agarkar 95, IK Pathan 83, Harbhajan Singh 46, M Kartik 32*, RP Singh 9*
India	1393	1270	186*	9*		v South Africa	Kolkata	25 Nov 2005	ODI 2299
SR Tendulkar 186*, MS Dhoni 183*, R Dravid 153, Yuvraj Singh 139, V Sehwag 130, M Kaif 111*, G Gambhir 103, AB Agarkar 95, IK Pathan 83, Harbhajan Singh 46, M Kartik 32*, RP Singh 9*
India	1405	1270	186*	9*		v South Africa	Mumbai	28 Nov 2005	ODI 2300
SR Tendulkar 186*, MS Dhoni 183*, R Dravid 153, Yuvraj Singh 139, V Sehwag 130, M Kaif 111*, G Gambhir 103, AB Agarkar 95, IK Pathan 83, Harbhajan Singh 46, M Kartik 32*, RP Singh 9*
ICC World XI	2089	1262	169	19		v Australia	Melbourne (Docklands	5 Oct 2005	ODI 2282
BC Lara 169, R Dravid 153, JH Kallis 139, V Sehwag 130, A Flintoff 123, KP Pietersen 116, Shahid Afridi 109, KC Sangakkara 103*, DL Vettori 83, SM Pollock 75, Shoaib Akhtar 43, M Muralitharan 19
India	1853	1250	186*	15		v Bangladesh	Port of Spain	17 Mar 2007	ODI 2538
SR Tendulkar 186*, MS Dhoni 183*, SC Ganguly 183, R Dravid 153, Yuvraj Singh 139, V Sehwag 130, AB Agarkar 95, RV Uthappa 86, Harbhajan Singh 46, Z Khan 34*, MM Patel 15
India	1874	1250	186*	15		v Sri Lanka	Port of Spain	23 Mar 2007	ODI 2550
SR Tendulkar 186*, MS Dhoni 183*, SC Ganguly 183, R Dravid 153, Yuvraj Singh 139, V Sehwag 130, AB Agarkar 95, RV Uthappa 86, Harbhajan Singh 46, Z Khan 34*, MM Patel 15
India	1986	1230	186*	15		v Bermuda	Port of Spain	19 Mar 2007	ODI 2542
SR Tendulkar 186*, MS Dhoni 183*, SC Ganguly 183, R Dravid 153, Yuvraj Singh 139, V Sehwag 130, AB Agarkar 95, RV Uthappa 86, Z Khan 34*, A Kumble 26, MM Patel 15
Asia XI	1954	1230	189	6		v Africa XI	Bangalore	6 Jun 2007	ODI 2587
ST Jayasuriya 189, MS Dhoni 183*, SC Ganguly 183, Mohammad Yousuf 141*, Yuvraj Singh 139, V Sehwag 130, DPMD Jayawardene 128, Mashrafe Mortaza 51*, Harbhajan Singh 46, Z Khan 34*, Mohammad Asif 6
India	1690	1229	186*	13*		v England	The Oval	5 Sep 2007	ODI 2619
SR Tendulkar 186*, MS Dhoni 183*, SC Ganguly 183, R Dravid 153, Yuvraj Singh 139, G Gambhir 103, AB Agarkar 95, RV Uthappa 86, RR Powar 54, Z Khan 34*, PP Chawla 13*
India	1366	1225	186*	24		v Pakistan	Delhi	17 Apr 2005	ODI 2240
SR Tendulkar 186*, D Mongia 159*, R Dravid 153, MS Dhoni 148, Yuvraj Singh 139, V Sehwag 130, M Kaif 111*, AB Agarkar 95, Harbhajan Singh 46, Z Khan 34*, A Nehra 24
Asia XI	1985	1223	189	6		v Africa XI	Chennai	9 Jun 2007	ODI 2588
ST Jayasuriya 189, MS Dhoni 183*, SC Ganguly 183, Mohammad Yousuf 141*, Yuvraj Singh 139, V Sehwag 130, DPMD Jayawardene 128, Mohammad Rafique 77, Z Khan 34*, CRD Fernando 13*, Mohammad Asif 6

New Zealand XIs rank prominently in the list of teams with the largest sum of high scores made at any point in a career. The players that took on Australia in the first and second Chappell-Hadlee ODIs in 2005-06 now have high scores that aggregate 1401, second to only the World XI teams.

Largest sum of high scores in a team (at any stage in career) - ODIs

Team	Mat	HS Sum	HS Max	HS Min		Opposition	Ground	Date	Scorecard
ICC World XI	2914	1426	169	33*		v Australia	Melbourne (Docklands	7 Oct 2005	ODI 2283
BC Lara 169, CH Gayle 153*, R Dravid 153, V Sehwag 146, JH Kallis 139, KC Sangakkara 138*, SM Pollock 130, A Flintoff 123, KP Pietersen 116, DL Vettori 83, Shoaib Akhtar 43, M Muralitharan 33*
ICC World XI	3138	1418	169	33*		v Australia	Melbourne (Docklands	9 Oct 2005	ODI 2284
BC Lara 169, CH Gayle 153*, R Dravid 153, V Sehwag 146, JH Kallis 139, KC Sangakkara 138*, SM Pollock 130, A Flintoff 123, Shahid Afridi 109, DL Vettori 83, M Ntini 42*, M Muralitharan 33*
New Zealand	1728	1401	172	45*		v Australia	Auckland	3 Dec 2005	ODI 2301
L Vincent 172, BB McCullum 166, JAH Marshall 161, NJ Astle 145*, SB Styris 141, CD McMillan 117, CL Cairns 115, HJH Marshall 101*, JDP Oram 101*, DL Vettori 83, KD Mills 54, JEC Franklin 45*
New Zealand	1728	1401	172	45*		v Australia	Wellington	7 Dec 2005	ODI 2302
L Vincent 172, BB McCullum 166, JAH Marshall 161, NJ Astle 145*, SB Styris 141, CD McMillan 117, CL Cairns 115, JDP Oram 101*, HJH Marshall 101*, DL Vettori 83, KD Mills 54, JEC Franklin 45*
South Africa	2221	1391	188*	23		v New Zealand	Auckland	27 Mar 1999	ODI 1422
G Kirsten 188*, HH Gibbs 175, MV Boucher 147*, JH Kallis 139, SM Pollock 130, N Boje 129, DJ Cullinan 124, JN Rhodes 121, WJ Cronje 112, L Klusener 103*, S Elworthy 23
South Africa	2221	1391	188*	23		v New Zealand	Wellington	30 Mar 1999	ODI 1425
G Kirsten 188*, HH Gibbs 175, MV Boucher 147*, JH Kallis 139, SM Pollock 130, N Boje 129, DJ Cullinan 124, JN Rhodes 121, WJ Cronje 112, L Klusener 103*, S Elworthy 23
ICC World XI	2992	1382	169	33*		v Australia	Melbourne (Docklands	5 Oct 2005	ODI 2282
BC Lara 169, R Dravid 153, V Sehwag 146, JH Kallis 139, KC Sangakkara 138*, SM Pollock 130, A Flintoff 123, KP Pietersen 116, Shahid Afridi 109, DL Vettori 83, Shoaib Akhtar 43, M Muralitharan 33*
South Africa	2346	1381	188*	13		v India	Hove	15 May 1999	ODI 1444
G Kirsten 188*, HH Gibbs 175, MV Boucher 147*, JH Kallis 139, SM Pollock 130, N Boje 129, DJ Cullinan 124, JN Rhodes 121, WJ Cronje 112, L Klusener 103*, AA Donald 13
Australia	2276	1375	181*	11		v England	Leeds	7 Jul 2005	ODI 2259
ML Hayden 181*, AC Gilchrist 172, RT Ponting 164, A Symonds 156, DR Martyn 144*, SR Watson 136*, MJ Clarke 130, MEK Hussey 109*, GB Hogg 71*, B Lee 57, JN Gillespie 44*, GD McGrath 11
India	2234	1364	200*	23		v South Africa	Hyderabad (Deccan)	16 Nov 2005	ODI 2297
SR Tendulkar 200*, MS Dhoni 183*, R Dravid 153, G Gambhir 150*, V Sehwag 146, Yuvraj Singh 139, M Kaif 111*, AB Agarkar 95, IK Pathan 83, Harbhajan Singh 49, M Kartik 32*, RP Singh 23