Highest Test scores from No.9, full list: Marco Jansen nearly breaks all-time record in India with career-best knock

Marco Jansen falls six short of all-time India record for No.9 batter

Jansen hit a 91-ball 93, laced with six fours and seven sixes (the latter being the most by a visiting batter in India) to help South Africa post a mammoth 489 in the first innings. He walked in at 334-7 as India finally sensed an opening to close down the innings.

However, the home bowlers were made to toil hard by the towering Jansen, who hit Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj for multiple boundaries. He took a special liking for Jadeja, hitting four sixes against his left-arm spin.

Having taken 53 deliveries for his 50, Jansen didn’t slow down even after centurion Senuran Muthusamy’s dismissal, scoring his next 43 runs off 38 balls. But just seven short of his maiden Test hundred, he bottom-edged a full Kuldeep delivery onto his stumps.

Jansen’s 93 was the second-highest score by a visiting No.9 batter in India after Mitchell Starc’s 99 in Mohali in 2012/13. Jayant Yadav holds the record for the highest score by a No.9 batter in India – 104 vs England at the Wankhede in 2016/17. This was also Jansen’s career-best knock.

Highest Test scores from No.9, full list