Right down to the wire: Top 5 most thrilling Test match finishes

The West Indian team celebrates as Australia's Ian Meckiff is run out with only two balls to go in the First Test at Brisbane

Australia vs West Indies, 1st Test, 1960-61

It was the era of romance in cricket. It was a time when white flannel contests were tales of Illiad and Odyssey, of cricketing literature. A decade of dullness had followed the Second World War, and a black captain was leading the touring West Indies side for the first time in Australia.

Both teams played aggressive, exciting cricket in the series to elevate the image of the game in the eyes of the public. The charismatic West Indian skipper Frank Worell won hearts with his team’s performance on the field, and with his charm off it.

The first Test match in Brisbane had see-sawing fortunes as West Indies made 453 in the first innings on the back of a classy Gary Sobers’ knock of 132. Australia replied with 505, with Norman O’Neil scoring 181. West Indies’ second innings of 284 was a combined effort, and Australia were set a target of 233 runs off 310 minutes in the 4th innings.

More twists of fortune followed as Australia were all but done at tea, the score reading 109-6. Legend has it that chairman of selectors Don Bradman asked Richie Benaud in the locker room at the break about the plan, and the Australian captain told him, “We’re going for a win”. He backed up his words, assisting all-rounder Alan Davidson in putting up 134 for the 7th wicket.

Australia needed 7 more runs with 4 wickets in hand, and just when you thought you had figured out the end to a riveting contest, Davidson ran himself out.

The last over began with 6 runs needed, and 3 wickets in hand. That was the era of 8-ball overs in Test cricket, and one of the fastest ever bowlers Weslie Hall was to bowl the final one. Benaud departed on the 2nd ball, and Hall missed an easy catch off his own bowling. On the 6th ball, Grout tied the scores and also got run out while attempting a 3rd.

With 1 run to win off 2 balls and a wicket in hand, Lindsay Kline nudged one to square leg but Joe Solomon threw down the stumps at the other end with one stump to aim at.

The crowd at Brisbane witnessed a great climax to a great contest, and the visitors were rightly given a heroes’ farewell at the end of the series.

Score: WI 453 & 284, Aus 505 & 233. Result – tie

India vs Australia, 1st Test, 1985-86

Just the second tied Test in history, this was another game that came down to the last over. Which means that till the final 6 deliveries, all four results were technically possible.

Once again, the match involved Australia, and here too it was the first game of the series. In extreme heat and humidity of Chennai, Australia made 574-7 on the back of a brave Dean Jones double-century. India replied with 397, powered by Kapil Dev’s 119.

Australia declared their 2nd innings at the end of the 4th day at 170-5, leaving India 348 to chase down in the 4th innings on the 5th day.

Gavaskar started the Indian innings confidently with a knock of 90, and Amarnath, Azharuddin and Ravi Shastri all chipped in with useful scores. When Chetan Sharma was dismissed at 331-7 India looked to be coasting to a stunning victory.

But two more wickets followed soon, and by the time the last over began 6 runs were needed with one wicket in hand. Shastri scored 3 off the first 3 balls and last man Maninder Singh blocked the 4th one. With just a single needed in fading light, Maninder fell LBW to Greg Mathews on the penultimate ball, and history was created.

Most felt that it was India’s game to lose, and the batsman till this day maintains that he got some bat on the ball. But credit to Australia for fighting till the end, and constantly bowling an attacking line.

Score: Aus 574-7 & 170-5, Ind 397 & 347. Result – tie.

The screen shows the situation with one ball left and England chasing one final wicket, during day five of the Third npower Ashes Test between England and Australia

England vs Australia, 3rd Test, 2005

It was a series that made it to cricketing folklore – an epic tale of drama and battle of character. England had been thrashed in the first Test at Lord’s, only to come back and win the second at Edgbaston by 2 runs. The third Test at Old Trafford was therefore extremely crucial, with both teams fighting to take the lead.

England batted first and put 444 on the board powered by Michael Vaughan’s fine 166. Simon Jones’ reverse swing reduced Australia to 201-7 in reply, before Shane Warne’s rearguard 90 took them to 302.

England carried the momentum into their 2nd innings despite some brilliant bowling by Glenn Mcgrath in the middle that produced a flurry of wickets. They declared at 280-6, leaving Australia with 423 to get on the final day in front of packed crowds and a pulsing national heartbeat.

That fifth day at Old Trafford was packed with several twists and turns of fortune. A solid-looking second wicket stand was broken superbly by Andrew Flintoff. Then, despite Ricky Ponting’s gritty century, a middle-order collapse left Australia staring down the barrel, before Michael Clarke – troubled by his sore back – joined Ponting in the middle.

By the time the Australian captain departed after a knock of 156 as the ninth man out, England needed 1 more wicket in 4 overs to win.

Finally, it seemed that the Aussie boat had sunk near the shore and the English efforts would see a successful culmination, but even that wasn’t to be. Somehow, pushing and prodding, grinding and grovelling, swallowing body-blows and holding on to their wicket for dear life, Brett Lee and Mcgrath played out the final four overs and secured a nail-biting draw for their nation.

The tension carried on till the very last ball, which made this one of the best matches in one of the most memorable series of recent times.

Score: Eng 444 & 280-6 decld, Aus 302 7 371-9. Result – match drawn.

India vs West Indies, 3rd Test, 2011

This was only the second instance in history where a Test match was drawn with the scores level. But that was down to some defensive tactics shown by Ravi Ashwin towards the end, rather than much great resistance by the opponents.

After having already lost the first Test in the series, a West Indies side famous for its inconsistency took guard for a fresh innings at the Wankhede. And what an innings it was! Batting for more than two days, West Indies made 590 runs, fuelled by 50-plus scores from all the top-order batsmen down to No. 6, and a sparkling 166 by Darren Bravo.

India replied with 482, Ravichandran Ashwin providing a useful contribution down the order with 103. However, a familiar sight resumed when WI collapsed for 134 in the 2nd innings, with Ojha and Ashwin ripping through the visitors’ batting inside 60 overs.

An unlikely victory loomed after 4 days of stalemate, with India requiring to chase down 243 in just over 60 overs to complete a clean sweep. Spurred by Virender Sehwag and fellow Delhi-ite Virat Kohli’s fluent 60s, India looked on course to chase down the target.

At that moment, did MS Dhoni and his trusted man Ashwin become too negative? As Kohli departed with 19 runs remaining, nerves appeared along with the uncertain Indian tail. The Chennai spinner did well to keep his calm and India required just 6 to win off the last 2 overs with 2 wickets in hand.

Somehow it came down to 3 off the final 6, and 2 off the final 2. While he had his chances to go for victory off the final 2 deliveries of the match with India’s chances for defeat almost eliminated, Ashwin surprisingly chose a safety-first option. He inside-edged the 1st ball for a dot, and didn’t run hard enough for a second off the final one, even as Varun Aaron pounded down the pitch in desperation.

The stumps were knocked down at the striker’s end, and a famous draw was secured with equal number of runs scored by both teams in the allotted time. Even though the game remains in the record books as one of the greatest Test matches to be played, perhaps it should have been there for other reasons.

Score: WI 590 & 134, Ind 482 & 242-9. Result – match drawn.

Sri Lankan players celebrate after taking the wicket of England's James Anderson with the penultimate ball of the game to win the test match on the fifth day of the second Test cricket match between England and Sri Lanka

England vs Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, 2014

In the first Test at Lord’s, Sri Lanka held on to a draw by the skin of their teeth. The series deciding second Test, played at Headingley, was the second consecutive game to go down to the very last over, producing one of the most dramatic finishes ever witnessed.

At Lord’s Nuwan Pradeep’s edge had fallen inches short of second slip to deny England victory. A week later, Jimmy Anderson fought valiantly for a scoreless 55 balls, before fending a short one off the penultimate delivery of the match to miss out on a famous draw, and concede victory to Sri Lanka.

At 311-3 with a lead of 54 over Sri Lanka’s 1st innings of 257, England were in the driver’s seat before collapsing to 365 all out. Fighting knocks from trusted pros Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene and a colossal 160 from captain Angelo Mathews propelled them to 457 in the 2nd innings with a lead of 349. The 4th day ended with murky skies and England with half their side down going into the final day for a seemingly obvious Lankan victory.

But a remarkable fighting 281-ball 108 by Moeen Ali, playing just his second Test match, and some resolute defending by the tail meant that England had all but survived and managed the impossible task of saving the match. The last wicket pair of Ali and Anderson had seen out close to 20 overs, and only 2 more deliveries remained.

It was then that Shaminda Eranga aimed a hostile one at Anderson’s rib-cage as a last-ditch assault. The No. 11 could only protect his body with his bat as Herath completed the simple catch near square-leg.

The visitors erupted in euphoria, as a gutted Anderson sunk to his knees reeling at what just happened. It was a thrilling contest, ending in fittingly thrilling fashion.

Score: Sl 257 & 457, Eng 365 & 249. Result – SL won by 100 runs.