The highest team score in the history of men’s Test cricket was 952 for 6 declared, scored by Sri Lanka in the one and only innings of the drawn first Test of the India tour of Sri Lanka at R. Premadasa Stadiu, Colombo between August 4 and August 6, 1997. India won the toss and elected to bat first, with captain Sachin Tendulkar contributing 143 to a first innings total of 537 for 8 declared.
However, Sri Lanka batted for the remaining three days plus to achieve their world record total. Opening batsman Marvan Attapatu was caught at the wicket off Nilesh Kulkarni – bowling his first ball in Test cricket – late on the second day but, thereafter, it was all one-way traffic. Sanath Jayasuriya (340) and Roshan Mahanama (225) put on 576 for the second wicket, while Aravinda de Silva (126) also reached three figures as India toiled through 271 overs, of which Kulkarni and fellow spinners Rajesh Chauhan and Anil Kumble bowled 230, for collective figures of 3 for 694.
By contrast, the lowest team score in the history of men’s Test cricket was just 26 all out, scored by the home side in the second innings of the second Test of the England tour of New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland on March 28, 1955. New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first, scoring 200 all out in their first innings, albeit having been 154 for 4 at one stage. England scored 246 all out in reply, with a captain Leonard Hutton top-scoring on 53, but in the second innings New Zealand experienced the mother and father of all collapses. Only opening batsman Bert Sutcliffe (11) reached double-figures as England needed just 27 overs to win by an innings and 20 runs.