England’s 5 most memorable Test matches ahead of their 1000th

#3. England vs South Africa, Trent Bridge, Jul 23-27 1998

In one of the most epic encounters in past 20 years, no one can forget the fierce rivalry between Donald and Atherton that unfolded at Trent Bridge on the final day with hosts in the quest to keep the series alive for the ultimate game. Put into bat, Proteas posted 374 with England replying with a 336 in their first innings. The visitors crumbled in their second innings as Angus Fraser went through their line up to bag his second fifer in the game.

England was left with a target of 247 runs to level the series in the fourth innings as Atherton and Hussain took to guard against a relentless Proteas attack. For the visitors to make a contest out of it, they wanted to see the early back of the duo at the crease. Cronje gave the ball to Donald, and it was a treat to watch the SA speedster bowl his heart out against Atherton in one of the fastest spells of his career.

The English batsman resisted and showed grit to conquer Donald, at times with verbal banter or with a grin to frustrate him even more. Eventually, the home team triumphed, but it was an absolute battle of quality that people usually reminisce over a glass of beer as the duo did after being involved in one of the best episodes of Test cricket.

Result: England won by 8 wickets