Test cricket; even with the advent of very fast paced ODIs, scores looking to touch 500 in the shorter version of the game, with the rise of the twenty20 format, has not lost its flair. Test cricket has always fascinated me and will continue to do so. Since I have nothing to do on this lazy sunday evening, I have sat down to type in a few of the best test matches I have ever witnessed. This is just a list of tests that come to my mind, and hence will contain a list of only those matches that I have seen or followed. To refresh my memory, I of course used some help from cricinfo and wisden. If anyone feels I have missed a great epic, please add that to the comments. So, here goes
1. India vs Australia, Kolkata, 2001 - India won by 171 runsThe first test any Indian cricket fan would think of would obviously be the great test of Kolkata played from 11th to 15th of march 2001. After a severe 10 wicket beating in Mumbai, which incidentally brought up Australia's 16th consecutive test victory, India were definitely facing an uphill task; especially with day 3 dawning at a score of 128/8 in reply to a mammoth 445 posted by Australia in the first innings, the Indian fans were getting ready to see a 2-0 to Australia at the end of the day. On day 3, the inevitable happened, India were bowled out for a paltry 171, which meant a trail of 274 and of course a follow-on. The Indians started the 2nd innings in a confident fashion losing the first wicket at 52. When India lost the 4th wicket, the score was 232 and in walked Dravid, this is were it all started, an epic was written by two authors : Rahul Sharath Dravid and Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman; they amassed an amazing 376 runs for the 5th wicket, even more amazing was the fact that the Australians went wicketless the whole of the 4th day. On the 5th day, Laxman fell for 281 when the score was 608 and Dravid fell on 180 when the score was 629; Ganguly finally decided to declare when the score was 657/7. The rest of course, as they say, is history; set a target of 384, the Aussies were dismissed for 212 with Harbhajan Singh claiming 6 victims. India won the match by 171 runs ending a dream streak of 16 consecutive test victories and earning a place in history by becoming only the 3rd team in test history to win a match after following on.
2. India vs Pakistan, Chennai, 1999 - Pakistan won by 12 runsThe next test would be the match played on the 28th to 31st of January, 1999. India vs Pakistan, played in my home - Chennai. The match would be remembered by all cricket lovers for the sporting behavior of the crowd. After Pakistan snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, the crowd stood up to give a standing ovation to the never-say-die attitude of the Pakistan Cricket team lead by the great Wasim Akram. India started off very well bowling out Pakistan for 228 in the first innings with Anil Kumble claiming 6 victims. The innings was held by a solid partnership of 63 between Mohammad Yousuf (53) and Moin Khan (60); and also a partnership of 60 between Moin Khan and Wasim Akram (38). India came into bat and could not capitalize on Pakistan's batting debacle and managed to get a first innings lead of just 16; thanks to a partnership of 53 runs between Dravid (53) and Ganguly (54); and also a good opening stand of 67 between Laxman (23) and Ramesh (43). Pakistan came into bat with a deficit of just 16 and lost Saeed Anwar before they could cover that. The score card read 11/1 and Ijaz Ahmed was dismissed when Pakistan were 42. At 42/2, Inzamam-ul-haq walked in and steadied the innings at one end while Afridi was taking the Indian bowling to the cleaners at the other end. By the time Inzamam got out, the score was already 139. Mohammad Yousuf got out when the score was 169 and at 169/4, the match took a decisive turn. Salim Malik walked in and scored a patient 32 with Afridi continuing the hard hitting and the pair added 106 runs for the 7th wicket. Pakistan finished with 286 and set the Indians a target of 271. India had a disastrous start losing both the openers with just 6 runs on the board. Dravid and Azharuddin then displayed some of the slowest batting ever witnessed in recent times; Dravid took 55 balls to get to 10 and Azhar snailed his way to 7 of 34 balls. The Indian 2nd innings also saw some of the worst umpiring decisions ever in test cricket history. Ganguly, Laxman and Kumble were victims of extremely idiotic decisions by umpire Ramasamy. At82/5, India were staring down the barrel. After that, the Chennai crowd witnessed one of the greatest innings of the little master, who, along with Nayan Mongia added 135 runs for the 6th wicket. The knock played by Sachin Tendulkar will go down as one of the best ever efforts in history and the knock can never be explained using words that are available in the oxford dictionary. After Sachin fell to Saqlain Mushtaq for 136, India were 254. With just 17 runs to win and 3 wickets in hand, India were sure favourites to win the match, but the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar came as a huge morale booster to the Pakistanis who gave a mere 4 runs to claim the remaining 3 wickets and finish off the Indian innings for 258 and claiming victory by a mere 12 runs.
3. Australia vs New Zealand, Brisbane, 2001 - Match Drawn
The match, though ended in a draw, will be remembered for Steve Waugh's daredevil declaration in the second innings. The toss was won by Fleming who invited the hosts to bat. Australia totally dominated the proceedings with an opening stand of 224 between Langer (104) and Hayden (136). The Kiwis came right back into the game when Australia lost the next 5 wickets for 39 runs. The scorecard read 263/6 and Gilchrist (118) steadied the ship with Warne (22) for a 39-run stand for the 8th wicket. Brett Lee then came out to play the innings of his life. Along with Gilchrist, Lee (61) added 135 runs for the 8th wicket. Steve Waugh declared the innings at 486 when Gilchrist got out. The match was interrupted by rain after New Zealand had started their innings and the batting was a lack-lusture performance. With O'Connor injured and the New Zealand innings reeling, Fleming decided to declare the innings at 287/8. This is where cricket won, with a trail of 200 runs, Fleming decided to declare the innings because he did not want a draw. As if that was not enough, Steve Waugh came up with yet another surprise declaration when Australia were 84/2, setting a target of 286 runs to the Kiwis. The Black Caps went after the target right away; Richardson, Fleming, Astle and Cairns all displaying some big hitting; when rain came in again, both the captains decided upon a draw with New Zealand just 12 runs short of the target. The man of the match award was given to Brett Lee for his 61 runs and 5 for in the 1st innings, but the true winners were Steve Waugh and Stephen Fleming for their dynamic and bold captaincies.
4. Pakistan vs Australia, Karachi, 1994 - Pakistan won by 1 wicket
A real epic battle. The first test match of a 3-match test series. Mark Taylor won the toss and decided to bat first and the Aussies made a respectable 337, thanks largely to a 5th wicket 121 run stand between Michael Bevan (82) and Steve Waugh (73). Ian Healy also chipped in with a well made 57. Pakistan, who failed to capitalise on a good opening stand of 90 between Saeed Anwar (85) and Aamir Sohail (36), were bowled out for 256; handing a lead of 81 to Australia. The Australian second innings witnessed just one big partnership of 122 between Boon (114) and Mark Waugh (61) for the 3rd wicket. All the other scores were just single digits. Australia were bowled out for 232 setting a target of 313 to Pakistan. Saeed Anwar was playing his second good knock of the match, but was lacking support on the other side, he got out for 77 and the scorecard read 174/5 when he got out. With 139 needed and just 5 wickets in hand, Pakistan were in deep trouble. Another 2 wickets were lost in quick succession, now, the score was 184/7 and Pakistan were considered finished with Rashid Latif and Inzamam-ul-haq at the crease. They added 52 runs for the 8th wicket and when Latif got out, the score was 236/8. It sounded impossible - 77 needed with 2 wickets in hand; and it sounded even more improbable at 258/9. 55 runs needed, 1 wicket in hand, and battling against names like - Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, one man, Inzamam-ul-haq thought it was possible and he made it a reality with Mushtaq Ahmed at the other end. Scoring 7 boundaries and scoring at almost 10 RPO, Inzamam scripted a fairy tale and Pakistan beat Australia by 1 wicket to gain a 1-0 lead in the 3 match series.
5. Sri Lanka vs South Africa, Kandy, 2000 - South Africa won by 7 runs
South Africa bounced back from an innings defeat in the first test to gain a miraculous 7 run victory in the second test and squared the series 1-1. South Africa batted first after pollock lost the toss and managed a mere 253. The entire batting collapsed, the saving grace being a brilliant 124 run partnership for the 6th wicket between Klusener (118*) and Boucher (60). Sri Lanka followed up with 308 runs, the highlight of the innings being the 120 from opener Atapattu and Ranatunga's 54. The pair added 104 runs for the 5th wicket. South Africa's second innings did not have the best of starts. Already trailing by a 55 run margin, the Proteas lost their top 3 for just 50 runs on the board. A 71 run stand for the 4th wicket between Kallis and Rhodes gave a bit of relief and the scorecard looked much better at 121/4 when Rhodes was dismissed. South Africa looked desperate when they lost their first innings hero - Klusener for just 4 runs. South Africa were eventually bundled out for 231, setting a target of 176 runs. Though the target looked small and easily gettable, the track was wearing away and Nicky Boje was drooling to get on with things. Eventually Sri Lanka were bowled out for 169, 7 runs short of the target, with Boje picking 3 wickets. Ranatunga's 88, studded with 15 hits to the fence proved to be futile and South Africa squared the 3 match test series 1-1.
6. Australia vs India, Adelaide, 2003 - India won by 4 wickets
One of India's most sensational tours down under began on a summer day on the 4th of December, 2003. After stunning the world by taking a first innings lead of 86 runs with a brilliant 144 from the then skipper Saurav Ganguly, the match meandered to an exciting draw. With a performance that exceeded all expectations, India went into Adelaide for the second test high on confidence. Things started to go down hill for India the moment Ganguly lost the toss. Australia flayed the Indian bowling attack and finished the first innings at a staggering 556. Ricky Ponting doing the damage with a merciless knock of 242. The innings would have ended before Australia got to 500, down the order, Jason Gillespie wielded the willow to race to 48* with 6 hits to the fence. The Indian openers walked in with a daunting task ahead of them and found themselves in a spot of bother at 85/4. The dreaded Laxman-Dravid duo came together and memories of 2001 started to haunt the Aussies again. The ball started to fly all over the ground and the two were running relentlessly. By the time Laxman got out, the scorecard read a mammoth score of 388 and the damage had been done. After Laxman's wicket, Parthiv Patel offered some resistance and aided Dravid's knock of a lifetime. The Indian innings finally folded for 523, a deficit of a mere 33, something that the Australians would have never dreamt of after Ponting's massacre, but Rahul Dravid made life hell for the Aussie bowlers with a staggering 233 that still remains in every cricket lover's memory for the exotic and stylish drives and pulls. Australia walked in for a second time and the Indian bowlers, who were high on confidence after the batting assault, flattened the long batting order. The Aussies were done and dusted for 196. Agarkar had some answering to do after being labelled the 'Bombay Duck', and he replied with a 6/41. The Indians had some worrying to do when Gilchrist went on a rampage, otherwise, the match would have ended too soon. So, it was all very clear, 230 runs to re-write the history books for the Indians; and thats exactly what they did! The opening pair put up 48 after which the first innings hero walked in. The Aussies were still picking wickets at regular intervals at the other end, but Dravid soldiered on. It all looked as if Agarkar and Dravid, the two heroes of the match had to be together to finish it off, when Patel fell to Katich for 3 runs, the score was 229 and Agarkar walked in, Dravid finished it all up with a strong hit to the cover boundary and history was made. It was indeed a proud moment for Indian cricket and a prouder moment for a Dravid fan!!
7. Bangladesh vs Australia, Fatullah, 2006 - Australia won by 3 wickets
Yes, believe your eyes, it is Bangladesh vs Australia and the result is true, no april fool joke. Australia managed only a 3 wicket win here. Some say the match came close due to Australia's complacency, whatever was the reason, the minnows gave a real fright to the world champions and also lost a great chance to script a victory that would be etched forever in the memories of every cricket lover. One hot day in April, in Bangladesh, Habibul Bashar called the right side of the coin and decided to bat. Australia touring Bangladesh was voted as the joke of the year in my college. The 9th of april was a sunday and since there were nothing worthy of doing, we all decided to watch the match together to have some fun. We definitely did have fun, but not the way we thought. Every over for the first five overs, someone would say "a wicket in this over"; it never happened. A 50-run opening stand was the first shock of the match, Javed Omar fell when the score was 51. Then came the skipper; we all were confident the tumble would start there; proved wrong yet again!! 100/1, 150/1, 200/1; now come on, this is carrying things too far. The second wicket partnership was worth a mighty 187. Habibul Bashar finally fell to Stuart MacGill for 76 and the scorecard now read 238/2. There was a stunned silence in the room, and we were all silently hoping for a Bangladesh victory, too embarrassed to say it out to each other. It was too much to take for everyone when the scorecard read a score of 400/6 with Mohammad Rafique and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza at the crease. Finally, Bangladesh folded for 427 and now, talks of an upset were slowly creeping into the open forum. The star of the day, was of course - Shahriar Nafees; 138 runs of 189 balls with 19 hits to the fence; his knock was nothing short of pure, unadulterated entertainment! Mathew Hayden and Mike Hussey walked in and the thought was a century stand, when Omar and Nafees can do a 50 run stand against Brett Lee and Stuart Clark, surely, SURELY, Hayden and Hussey can do it against Mortaza and Hossain, right? Wrong!! score - 6/1, Mathew Hayden lbw b Mashrafe Bin Mortaza for 6, we all jumped for joy and saying to ourselves - this cant be happening, but I hope it is. Soon, it was 43/2, the skipper gone. 50/3, Damien Martyn; 61/4, Mike Hussey; 79/5, Michael Clarke!! WHATS HAPPENING??? Australia have lost half their side before getting to 100 and they are up against a score of 427! 93/6, Warne, now wait just a darn minute, it is gonna happen, we all confided, the match had us all drawn now, we were all involved in it as if we had been supporting Bangladesh for years together. Just when we started assuming Australia were finished, Gilchrist started flaying the ball, with Brett Lee providing solid support, the 63 run partnership dented the Bangladeshi chances a bit, but still, when Lee got out, the score was a mere 156 and the Aussies were still 271 runs behind; so, we were still hopeful of a follow-on, after all, they needed 72 runs to avoid a follow-on and had only 3 wickets to go. Gillespie decided to glue himself to the wicket and played to a defiant 26 of 88 balls and thus saved a follow-on embarrassment! The score was 229/8 when Gillespie was dismissed. The 9th wicket partnership was worth 39 runs with a brilliant contribution of '0' from Stuart Clark. Australia finally folded for 269 with a deficit of a 158 runs. We were now literally praying for a Bangladesh won and hoping for another blistering knock from Nafees. The start was a good one again, the first wicket stand was worth 48 and the lead was now beyond 200. The sad thing however was, it was Nafees who was dismissed. He played himself to a quickfire 33 of 38 before his stumps and a few hopes were shattered by a quick one from Brett Lee. After this followed a sad end to a fairy tale run. Bangladesh were bowled out for a 148 in their second innings, setting a target of 307 for the Australians. Even though the Bangladeshi second innings witnessed a batting debacle, 307 was not going to be easy to get on a 5th day pitch. The Aussies started off well, the opening pair contributing 64 runs before Hussey was dismissed. The second wicket partnership was the biggest dent in the Bangladeshi hopes and saw some merciless hitting from Hayden and Ponting. They together added 109 runs for the second wicket before Hayden was dismissed for 72 runs. At 173/2, it was still anyone's game. Wickets kept falling at one end while Ponting soldiered on at the other, at 227/7, things were looking good for Bangladesh; 80 runs to get for Australia and 3 wickets for Bangladesh, Gillespie again offered some resolute defending and gave maximum of strike to Ponting who finished Bangladesh with a classy 118 and saved the Aussies from tremendous embarrassment. A match that really had all of us in awe. One of the greatest test matches ever!
8. West Indies vs Australia, Antigua, 2003
The 4 match series had already been won 3-0 by Australia and this match was a dead rubber. It did not mean much for Australia, but it meant the world for West Indies. Steve Waugh had won the toss and decided to bat first. The Australians could manage only 240 against the West Indies attack and Jermaine Lawson ended up being the destructor-in-chief. Sending down a fiery spell of 19.1 overs, he returned figure of 7/78. Quite amazingly, a rare occurrence in test cricket, West Indies were dismissed for exactly the same number of runs. Australia came into bat for the second time with a 0 run lead. The second innings batting was in stark contrast of the one displayed in the first innings, Lawson was injured and could not continue beyond 6 overs and as a result, the opening pair made merry and contributed a hefty 242 runs. Langer got out for 111. Australia were finally dismissed for 417 runs, Matt Hayden doing the damage with a 177 and Steve Waugh being the only other notable contributor with an unbeaten 45 to his name. West Indies had to chase down 418 for a win and it was a very laughable matter considering the situation the team was in at that time. Till 74/3, the expected was happening, after which Lara and Sarwan decided to actually go for the kill. The pair added 91 runs for the 4th wicket. After Lara got out, Chanderpaul joined in the party along with Sarwan and made some astonishing strokes to put up a 5th wicket stand of 123 runs. Ridley Jacobs returned without scoring putting the Windies in a spot of bother at 288/6; but Chanderpaul soldiered on with Omari Banks and they added a valuable 84 runs for the 7th wicket. When Chanderpaul got out for 104, the scorecard read a healthy 372/7, Windies still needing 46 runs. Omari Banks stayed till the end with Vasbert Drakes for support and saw to it that his efforts did not go in vain and West Indies were home with 3 wickets to spare. The partnership between Chanderpaul and Sarwan is something that remains fresh in my memory till date.
Thats the lot I could come up with. Test matches will be added as and when they come to my mind.
