Lara claims cricket's runscoring record

West Indies' Brian Lara celebrates becoming the most prolific run scorer in the history of the game during the third cricket test against Australia today. Picture / Reuters

ADELAIDE, Australia - Brian Lara added the 12 runs he needed this afternoon to become test cricket's all-time leading runscorer.

The West Indies star had resumed on his overnight score of 202, and it took half an hour for him to claim the test record on day two of the third cricket test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval.

Lara started the day 11 runs behind former Australian captain Allan Border's world record of 11,174 test runs.

He took two off Glenn McGrath in the fifth over to equal the mark Border set in 1994, then glanced the last ball of that over to fine leg for a single to move to 214 and take the record all on his own.

Lara gave a celebratory leap as he ran down the pitch and jubilantly punched the air.