Test match turnarounds and results by the barest of margins

The Long form version of Test Match cricket has been by far the most exciting and historically best edition of the game. Just shy of it's 146th year anniversary since the existence of International Test Cricket that began on 15th March 1877, the sport was witness to a gasping thriller for the ages with New Zealand pipping a red hot England side by a solitary margin of one run after being asked to follow on. The win sparked off unquestionable celebrations as it was just the second time a victory of one run had been recorded in this format and just the 4th time ever a test been won by a side following on. When you sum up the two, it's the first time ever a side had won after being asked to follow on and record the thinnest margin of victory ever by a run. Centuries may pass and we may still be privy to more low margin victories in future but undoubtedly it's almost certainly not going to be by a side after being asked to follow on. This makes New Zealand's feat in this test match incredible and all the more remarkably special.

The ebbs and flows that proceeded throughout the 5 days of play at Basin Reserve Stadium in Wellington was a gripping spectacle of the highest order and enough proof to testify that the oldest version of the game has everything within it's purview to keep both the players and spectators hooked on. The denouement that played out eventually could never be envisaged or scripted more perfectly than the way it all actually ended. Shorter versions of the sport such as One Day Internationals and Twenty 20 format have a charm of their own being more box office friendly and bringing in the crowds but the intensity and passion which test cricket generates is surreal and hard to surpass. This was the 2494th recorded International Test Match played and to witness a team win after being asked to follow on and end up being only the second occasion to win a test match by a solitary run shows how special Test cricket is as it keeps churning out astonishing results and unheard of moments & memories time after time. 

Victory after Following On:
Let's take a cursory list of the 4 occasions a team after being asked to follow on still ended up on the winning side.

1894 Sydney, Australia: Eng def Aus by 10 runs. Deficit in first innings 261 runs
1981 Leeds, England: Eng def Aus by 18 runs. Deficit in first innings 227 runs
2001 Kolkata, India: Ind def Aus by 171 runs. Deficit in first innings 274 runs
2023 Wellington, New Zealand: NZ def Eng by 1 run. Deficit in first innings 226 runs

By looking at the above list, we can observe some interesting patterns. The second occasion of a win by following on happened almost 87 years from the first. 20 years later the third instance took place and almost exactly 22 years to the day, the 4th one has been recorded. India's victory over Australia at Kolkata in a way seems mighty special as India had conceded the highest deficit of 274 runs and also ended up winning by the highest margin of 171 runs having followed on. All the other three victories viz the 2 by England and 1 by New Zealand was by bare mere margins which could have tilted the balance either way. One other similarity worth noting from the last 2 occasions is that the losing team were coming off a major winning streak only to end in despair and agony. Australia had won 16 on the trot looking to win their 17th when they came undone and likewise England were victorious in 6 straight games and on the back of winning 10 of their last 11 test matches only to end up losing it finally in excruciating fashion.

Victory by One Run:
Also let's jot down the only 2 attempts in which a team has recorded victories by a single run.

1993 Adelaide, Australia: WI def Aus by 1 run
2023 Wellington, New Zealand: NZ def Eng by 1 run

The second occasion of winning by a run has occurred in 2023 exactly 3 decades since the first one took place in 1993. New Zealand can have the bragging rights of being the only home team to have registered a famous victory by 1 run on home soil. Australia's record in general seems to be quite agonizing having lost 3 matches after asking the opposition to follow on in addition to losing a heartbreaking home defeat by a run to the Windies. They have also suffered tragic defeats losing in single digit encounters most notably being the 2 run defeat to England in the monumental Edgbaston Ashes test at Birmingham in 2005 not to forget a nerve wracking 3 run loss to their arch rivals England at MCG in the Boxing Day Test of 1982. South Africa's re-entry into Test Cricket saw them scalping home an unforgettable 5 run victory over the Aussies in 1994 at Sydney and in recent times their most traumatic defeat would be losing by a mere 7 runs at home to the Kiwis at Hobart in 2011. New Zealand however have been a side in recent times handling their nerves in pressure situations really well and been successful in flushing out 3 gut wrenching close call victories. Apart from the Hobart triumph in 2011 and Wellington victory in 2023, they also managed to eke out a thrilling 4 run win away from home at Abu Dhabi in 2019 paving way towards a famous overseas series victory over Pakistan. 

Scores Level with No Win No Loss (Tie/Draw): 
Coming to some Ifs and Buts, had England managed to score one more run, this match against New Zealand would have been classified as a Tied test. The delivery before the final dismissal can still be debated if it should have been allowed as a wide or not. This could be argued on endlessly for eternity but official verdict has been made with the result firmly going in New Zealand's favour.

There have however been 4 tests played where scores ended up being levelled at the end of the test match but only two of them make it to the list of test matches ending in a 'Tie'. The other two however gets classified as a 'Draw'. The reason for the discrimination depends on whether a batting side is bowled out or not. If a match ends scores level with the batting side being dismissed of all their wickets then it's granted as a 'Tie' whereas if a match ends with scores level on account of overs being bowled up at end of Day 5 with the batting side still having a wicket or more in hand, then it gets vetoed in as a Draw.

Lets look at the 4 occasion of scores being level but match ending in a Tie or Draw:

1960 Brisbane, Australia: Aus vs WI. Result 'Tie'
1986 Chennai, India: Ind vs Aus. Result 'Tie'
1996 Bulawayo, Zimbabwe: Zim vs Eng. Result 'Draw'
2011 Mumbai, India: Ind vs WI. Result 'Draw'

Both the tied test matches were iconic in their era with the first one occurring between Australia and West Indies at the Gabba in 1960 and the second one 26 years later between India and Australia at the erstwhile Madras test of 1986. This particular NZ vs Eng test could have been the third occasion to have taken place after 37 years but alas it was not to be. Australia are however the only side to have been involved in both the Tied test encounters.

Incidentally the other tests where scores were levelled but earned the tag of a 'Draw' took place 15 years apart with the first one happening in Zimbabwe in 1996 followed by India in 2011. The Zim vs Eng game had no chance of being a Tie as England had lost only 6 wickets chasing a target of 205 and ended up falling one run short. The game at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai however was a humdinger and at the start of the last over, there were all possibilities of either of a Win, Loss, Tie or Draw. India finally ended up levelling scores with the Windies with one wicket still remaining in their kitty. Going into the final over, India needed to obtain 3 runs with 2 wickets in hand. If the Windies had scalped both the wickets before India could get two runs they would have won the match. If India had scored the three runs they would have been victors. If India had got 2 runs but lost both their final two wickets, then it would have been a tie. But ultimately it was a Draw because India got the 2 runs to level the scores but only lost one of their wickets in the process. Both the two Drawn test matches with scores level however never get the same recognition as the Tied test matches within the parlance of cricketing folklore.

Victory off the Last Delivery:
Coming to jaw dropping last ball finishes, it's worth noting that there have been two test matches which have been won off the last delivery bowled in the test match.

Let's take an inventory of the matches won off the Final Delivery:

1948 Durban, South Africa: Eng def SA by 2 wickets
2023 Christchurch, New Zealand: NZ def SL by 2 wickets

The most recent encounter between New Zealand and Sri Lanka which incidentally took place less than a fortnight after the epic New Zealand vs England game falls in to this esteemed and elusive category. This incidentally was the 2498th recorded test match and New Zealand thus have the rare honour of being a part of two celebrated back to back test victories etched for the ages through their two quench thirsting last gasp thrillers in 2023. 

Had Kane Williamson been found short of his ground while attempting to cross over for that bye, the match would have been termed a draw with scores being level from both sides. It would have become only the third instance of scores level with match ending in a draw but instead became the second occasion ever where a team had won off the last legitimate delivery bowled in a test match. New Zealand have now won their last two tests by a margin of one run and off the last delivery of the test match respectively with Kane Williamson having the distinction of scoring a century in both these tests.

The only other instance of a last ball finish happened almost three fourth of a century ago in the test match between South Africa and England in 1948. England emerged victorious having been set a final day target of 128 runs off 28 overs and managed to scamper across the line in the very last ball of the 28th over. The coincidence across both these games is that both these sides won the match off the last ball with exactly 2 wickets to spare. Phew! - the romance of test cricket history has certainly been bewitching to say the least.

Victory by One Wicket:
This is also as close as it gets and come to think of it from an alternative point of view, the team chasing would have suffered an agonizing defeat having come so close but not being able to cross the line. However in comparison to teams having won by solitary minor run margins, the victories by teams chasing and winning by a wicket in hand have happened quite a number of times in the history of International Test Cricket with 15 being the exact number.

Let's take a brief look at those encounters as well:

1902 Oval, England: Eng def Aus by 1 wicket
1906 Johannesburg, South Africa: SA def Eng by 1 wicket
1908 Melbourne, Australia: Eng def Aus by 1 wicket
1923 Cape Town, South Africa: Eng def SA by 1 wicket
1951 Melbourne, Australia: Aus def WI by 1 wicket
1980 Dunedin, New Zealand: NZ def WI by 1 wicket
1994 Karachi, Pakistan: Pak def Aus by 1 wicket
1999 Barbados, West Indies: WI def Aus by 1 wicket
2000 Antigua, West Indies: WI def Pak by 1 wicket
2003 Multan, Pakistan: Pak def Ban by 1 wicket
2006 Colombo, Sri Lanka: SL def SA by 1 wicket
2010 Mohali, India: Ind def Aus by 1 wicket
2019 Durban, South Africa: SL def SA by 1 wicket
2019 Leeds, England: Eng def Aus by 1 wicket
2021 Jamaica, West Indies: WI def Pak by 1 wicket

Looking at this list, Australia have again had the rough end of the stick suffering the ignominy of losing 6 encounters by a one wicket margin. They have managed to win only once by a wicket margin. Australia may be the most successful nation ever in cricket history but in terms of close shave defeats, the Aussies seem to be right at the top of the pile. 2019 was the only year which was witness to 2 occasions of a one wicket victory. Some of the greatest hall of fame innings have also apparently come in one wicket victories. Innings which immediately come to mind are Brian Lara's blitzkrieg 153 vs Aus, Inzamam Ul Haq's masterpiece 138 vs Ban, Kusal Perera's heroic 153 vs SA and Ben Stokes counter attacking sterling 135 vs the Aussies.

Thus as at the end of March 2023, International test cricket would have completed 146 years since it's inception comprising of exactly 2500 recorded encounters. Within this mammoth oeuvre, there have been only 4 instances of a team winning after following on, 2 cases of victories by a solitary run, 2 times a match ending in a tie, 2 occasions of match ending in a draw with scores level, 2 attempts of victory off the final legitimate delivery and 15 events of a victory by a side with just a wicket remaining. Test cricket results and pandemonium definitely seem to have a match made in history. 

The Drama that the original form of Cricket viz Test Cricket has provided over it's rich and vast history is simply unparalleled and when it comes to close encounters it's theatrics is unmistakably insurmountable. May the 'Legend of Test Cricket' continue to grow and enchant for generations and lifetimes to come.

Pictures and Source of Statistics: Espncricinfo.com