Which batter has recorded most 50-plus Test scores without hundred?
What's the story
Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batter Niroshan Dickwella recently made his return to the Test team. The 33-year-old featured in the series opener against India at the Galle Cricket Stadium. Though Sri Lanka lost the contest by 165 runs, Dickwella made his bat talk. He made 80 off 115 balls (7 fours) in SL's first innings. On this note, we look at the batters to hammer the most 50-plus scores in Tests without a hundred.
#1
23 - Niroshan Dickwella
Dickwella tops this list by a significant margin.
He now has 23 fifties to his name, with a highest score of 96 runs in Test matches.
Though the southpaw has touched the 80-run mark six times across 98 innings, the three-figure mark remains elusive for him.
Dickwella's tally of 2837 Test runs at 31.28 is the second-most for any batter without a hundred.
#2
16 - Chetan Chauhan - 16
Former Indian opener Chetan Chauhan takes the second spot on this list with 16 half-centuries.
He finished with 2,084 across 68 Test innings at an average of 31.57.
Though Chauhan finished with a zero in the century column, he got to 80 seven times, as his best score was 97.
He also got out on 93 once.
#3
13 - Mackay & Starc
The Aussie duo of Ken Mackay and Mitchell Starc has hammered 13 fifties each without a hundred.
The former was a fast-bowling all-rounder, who tallied 1,507 across 57 Test innings at an average of 33.48.
His best score in the format was 89. Starc, meanwhile, owns the most Test wickets among left-arm bowlers (435 at 26.60).
His tally also includes 2,497 runs at 20.30 (156 innings).
Starc's best score is a 99 in the 2013 Mohali affair versus India.
#4
12 - Shane Warne
With 708 wickets at 25.41, the great Shane Warne remains the second-highest wicket-taker in Test history.
The leggie often assisted Australia with the bat in hand as well.
He scored 3,154 Test runs at an average of 17.32, which stands as the world record for the most career Test runs without scoring a single century.
Warne finished with 12 Test fifties across 199 innings, including a best of 99 in the 2001 Perth Test versus New Zealand.
He, overall, breached the 85-run mark four times.