Top 20 in 2020: The best Test batting, 20-18

Re-live the countdown in full: 20-18 | 17-15 | 14-12 | 11-9 | 8-6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

There have been more than 250 scores of 100 of more in Tests in Australia so far this century, so narrowing it down to just 20 has been no easy task.

In judging the best performances, the cricket.com.au team considered the quality of the bowling attack, the difficulty of the conditions, strike rate, the length of the innings, the percentage of the team's total and the situation of the game.

A player's previous record and relative experience plus the impact their performance had on a match and a series also weighted heavily.

Before you get stuck into this countdown, you can re-live some other memorable batting performances by looking back on our 20 in 2020 Best Test Moments countdown from earlier this year.

20) Ricky Ponting, 120 & 143no

Australia v South Africa, Sydney, 2006

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By Martin Smith

The start to Ricky Ponting's 100th Test match could hardly have gone any worse.

First, Australia's skipper lost the toss in the series-deciding Test against South Africa at the SCG, meaning his bowlers would get no more time to put their feet up having completed victory in Melbourne just three days earlier.

Then, in the third over of the morning, Ponting did what he almost never did; he dropped a catch, an easy one too, to give a young Proteas batsman named AB de Villiers an early life.

Speaking to cricket.com.au earlier this year, Ponting concedes the occasion of his 100th Test match had got the better of him. With family and friends flying in to watch the milestone, he was feeling the pressure and nerves more than he had over most of the previous 99 Tests.

But the dropped catch sparked him into action.

"I thought to myself, 'What are you doing? Why are you trying too hard? Just relax and get into it'," he recalls.

And when Australia started the third morning of the Test at a shaky 3-54 in reply to South Africa's imposing first innings of 9-451, their skipper did exactly that – he relaxed.

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For the next three days, over the course of two innings, Ponting was imperious with bat in hand as he steered his side to a series win that affirmed their place as the official No.1 Test side in the world – despite a shock Ashes loss just six months earlier – and stretch his own lead on top of the world Test batting rankings.

After the Proteas had crawled along at less than three runs an over for most of the first two (rain reduced) days, Ponting defied both the early batting collapse and an on-song attack to not only survive, but up the tempo.

He reached his half-century on that third morning from just 68 balls and later joined an elite group of six to celebrate a ton of Tests with a ton of runs, bringing up the milestone from just 143 deliveries.

When he was dismissed for 120, the score was just 5-222 and Australia needed a late-order cameo from Adam Gilchrist and a generous declaration from the desperate Proteas just before lunch on the final day to set up the second act of Ponting's two-part show.

Needing 287 to win in a little more than two sessions, Ponting was even more destructive than he was in the first innings. In concert with Matthew Hayden (90), the skipper helped the Australians rattle along at close to five runs an over and he brought up his second hundred of the match in the final session as the hosts closed in on victory.

It was the second of three occasions that summer that he would score twin hundreds in a Test, and he remains the only man to do so in his 100th match.

And when he crunched his 16th boundary of the innings to seal an eight-wicket victory, that dropped catch on the first morning – and all the nerves and pressure he had placed on himself – were nothing but a distant memory.

19) Virender Sehwag, 195

India v Australia, Melbourne, 2003

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By Martin Smith

One of the more amazing aspects of Virender Sehwag's blistering 195 on Boxing Day 2003 was the fact it happened at all.

The opener's innings could have – and should have – ended in the fifth over of the morning when he was on just 4, but a firm throw from bowler Brett Lee at the feet of Adam Gilchrist meant the wicketkeeper fumbled the ball with Sehwag well short of his ground.

There was also a highly contentious stumping decision that went the Indian's way just before lunch, and the Australians would lament these missed opportunities for the remainder of an incredible opening day.

Sehwag also ducked into a Lee bouncer twice in the quick's first spell, but it was the Indian who would ultimately land the biggest blows in a destructive performance that included 25 fours and five sixes.

He was particularly harsh on Stuart MacGill, welcoming the leg-spinner to the crease by shifting his front leg to the on side and launching a leg-break ten rows beyond the fence at long-off.

MacGill then started his third over with four consecutive dot balls, before Sehwag again opened his front leg and smashed him to the fence straight down the ground. And he repeated the shot the very next ball.

In total, Sehwag would hit the leggie for six fours and three maximums in less than six overs, all but one of them in the region between cover and mid-wicket.

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He was destructive against the quicks as well, bringing up his half-century with a slash over gully off the bowling of Lee that travelled so quickly the fielder at third man could only watch it fly past him and bounce over the rope.

He reached three figures with an equally firm boundary through mid-wicket off Brad Williams, playing his third of just four Tests, before he incredibly launched the Test rookie over the cover fielder and to the fence. The bewildered look on the face of the bowler as the ball crashed into the rope said more than words could.  

Sehwag continued to flay Williams through the off-side despite the absence of any footwork, leading Mark Nicholas to remark in commentary: "There's almost a hint of madness about his batting that attracts him to you."

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And it would be a mad end to a mad innings, with a full toss from part-timer Simon Katich accounting for Sehwag just five runs short of a double century and with more than 11 overs remaining in the day.

The rapid acceleration from Sehwag after he reached his century was made more significant in the context of the series. The Indians, leading 1-0 having recorded a rare victory in Adelaide, were 1-278 at one point in the day and Steve Waugh's farewell series was, at that point, heading towards a disaster. 

But Sehwag's dismissal was part of an incredible collapse either side of stumps that saw the tourists lose their last nine wickets for just 88 runs, a surrender that was compounded when Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden spurred Australia to a match-winning and series-saving total of 558 in reply.

Sehwag's performance was ultimately in vain in the wake of Australia's nine-wicket win, but it wasn't easily forgotten.

18) David Warner, 123no

Australia v New Zealand, Hobart, 2011

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By Martin Smith

Eight runs.

That's all that prevented David Warner's debut Test century from being much higher on this list, because the lingering memory from the 2011 Hobart Test is not that of a breakout performance from a rookie opening batsman, but of an historic New Zealand triumph.

A victory that ended a drought of almost two decades against Australia, secured by a margin of just seven runs, which would have been substantially greater if not for Warner's contribution.

The left-hander's unbeaten 123 out of a total of 233 was the only century and one of only three scores above 50 in a match where the average team score was just 186.

He became just the sixth Australian since the Second World War to carry his bat, a feat so rare that no Aussie opener has achieved it since.

All this from a batsman who had been pigeon-holed as a T20 slogger, playing just his second Test match.

Warner played a lead role in a run chase that started on the third afternoon and he confidently steered Australia to 0-72 by the time rain forced a premature end to the day.

But a steady stream of wickets started the following morning that would eventually cascade down the order and drown the Australians within sight of victory.

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Warner, though, was impervious to the Black Caps' attack, striking 14 boundaries as his teammates often pushed with hard hands and edged to an eager slips cordon.

He had some luck, as one would expect in the conditions, including a French cut for four and an edge through where third slip should have been, which resulted in a boundary that brought up his half-century.

But he could do nothing but watch from the non-striker's end as Australia slid from 2-159 to a far less comfortable 5-159 in just two overs, losing Ponting, Clarke and Hussey cheaply to heighten the chances of a Black Caps' victory.

Warner pushed on and breezed into and then through the 90s with a series of pulls and another firm drive to the cover boundary, bringing up his century with a push for two on the leg side that sparked a joyous leap in the air, a kiss on the badge of his helmet and an embrace from state teammate Brad Haddin.

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But another collapse of 4-7 left the Australians still 42 runs adrift and Warner with just No.11 Nathan Lyon for company.

He showed enormous faith in his fellow Test rookie by refusing to farm the strike, but he did delve into his bag of T20 tricks in an attempt to finish the job quickly.

But his efforts were ultimately in vain as the brave Lyon was bowled by Doug Bracewell to cue raucous celebrations from the Black Caps.

Ultimately, Australia fell eight runs short of a victory that would have secured the series win and also guaranteed Warner's innings was held in a much higher regard than it is today.

Top 20 in 2020: Best Test batting in Australia since 2000

20) Ricky Pontingv South Africa, Sydney, 2006

19) Virender Sehwagv Australia, Melbourne, 2003

18) David Warnerv New Zealand, Hobart, 2011

17) Virat Kohliv Australia, Adelaide, 2014

16) Alastair Cookv Australia, Brisbane, 2010

15) VVS Laxmanv Australia, Sydney, 2000

14) Steve Smithv England, Perth, 2017

13) Hashim Amlav Australia, Perth, 2012

12) Cheteshwar Pujarav Australia, Adelaide, 2018

11) AB de Villiersv Australia, Perth, 2008

10) Kevin Pietersenv Australia, Adelaide, 2010

9) Michael Clarkev South Africa, Adelaide, 2012

8) Steve Smithv England, Brisbane, 2017

7) Kumar Sangakkara v Australia, Hobart, 2007

6) Sachin Tendulkar v Australia, Sydney, 2004

5) Brian Larav Australia, Adelaide, 2005

4) JP Duminyv Australia, Melbourne, 2008

3) Rahul Dravidv Australia, Adelaide, 2003

2) Ricky Pontingv India, Melbourne, 2003

1) Faf du Plessisv Australia, Adelaide 2012