Twelve teams, 12 Tests: the greatest match each Test team has played

With the WTC final scheduled for next week, I have traversed the 140 years of Test cricket history to bring you this nostalgia-centred article, of the greatest Tests played by each team in their history. There have been many unforgettable matches for each Test team, especially for teams with over 100 years of history. That makes it difficult to identify the greatest matches each team has featured in, but I have taken a crack at it.

The methodology

Using customised algorithms, I created a shortlist of a dozen or so matches for each team. More for teams like Australia and England, and fewer for teams like Sri Lanka. Then I went over the scorecards and other information for each of those matches to get a complete overview of them. After that, I created a final shortlist of three Tests for each team. This article covers the presentation of those final shortlists, and the selection of one defining match from among those three games, for each team.

Generally, and understandably, cricket followers tend to consider close matches as the truly great ones. I have also thought on those lines usually. However, there are occasions when the sheer quality of a comeback, or the greatness of the occasion, lead us to conclude that even comfortable wins should not be ignored - for example, Australia's comeback from the depths in Durban in 1950, India's Kolkata miracle of 2001, or New Zealand's World Test Championship win in 2021. These matches make us think that comfortable wins also deserve full consideration.

My picks

I will be covering the eight oldest Test teams in depth individually, presenting the shortlists of three for each, and what I think is their greatest Test. The last four teams will be covered in brief and in summary.

If the 24 Tests - among the greatest ever played - for the top eight teams form the base of the crown, the eight Tests featured in depth are the jewels on top of it.

In the graphics below, I have presented the two best individual performances for the team in each innings prominently. For the opposition team, one performance is displayed, in grey.

For England, the selection is fairly straightforward. The famous win at The Oval in 1902, inspired by Gilbert Jessop would be on anyone's list. As would the two Headingley classics, 38 years apart. Other matches considered were the two-run win in Birmingham in 2005, the narrow MCG Ashes win in 1982, and the famous Sydney 1894 win after following on.

As someone who was glued to the radio for every ball bowled on those three July days, one match that stands out like a beacon for me - the 1981 win. Australia scored big, dismissed England for a low score, and enforced the follow-on. England slumped to 135 and 7 and 252 for 8, facing certain defeat, but Ian Botham produced arguably the best third-innings batting performance ever. It was backed up by an equally stunning bowling effort by Bob Willis and England won by 18 runs.

This was one of the matches of the 20th century. Australia were winning the Test at no fewer than four points in it - when they were sitting pretty after the second innings, with a lead of 227 runs; then when England were tottering at 135 for 7 in their second; then after the third innings, with just 130 to chase; and finally when they were 56 for 1. Still England won, walking on water those July days.

My shortlist for Australia may contain a surprise or two. The inclusion of the Birmingham win of 2023 should not be a surprise. However, many cricket enthusiasts may not be fully aware of the significance of the 1950 Durban win, and the win in Colombo. Look at where Australia were in the middle of those matches and you will see why they have made the cut. The other matches that were under serious consideration were the Oval win of 1882, the Manchester win of 1902, and the MCG win in 1951 against West Indies.

The match I finally selected is one of the most emphatic come-from-behind wins, the Durban Test, played just after the retirement of Don Bradman. Australia had to prove they were a good team even without the great master. South Africa made over 300 on a tough pitch. Their bowling attack, spearheaded by Hugh Tayfield, dismissed Australia for 75. Despite the huge lead, South Africa batted again, but could only score 99, thanks to the efforts of Ian Johnson and Bill Johnston. This left Australia with a huge target of 336 - very difficult to achieve, considering the quality of the South African bowling attack, especially Tayfield.

Australia slipped to 95 for 4, but then Neil Harvey played an all-time-great chasing innings of 151, orchestrated two century stands, with Sam Loxton and Colin McCool, and Australia won comfortably by five wickets. Harvey remained unbeaten at the end of nearly six hours of flawless batting.

The South Africa shortlist is along expected lines. An epochal win, chasing 284 in a low-scoring match in 1906, and two close wins in away Tests in Australia and Sri Lanka - both orchestrated by terrific fourth-innings bowling performances while defending low targets. The Faisalabad win from out of nowhere in 1997 was under serious consideration.

Much as I admire Fanie de Villiers' all-time-great bowling performance in Sydney in 1994, I have to go with the 1906 Johannesburg win because of the sheer magnitude of the achievement and because it was South Africa's first ever Test win. Let us remember that their target in the fourth innings was larger than the sum of the first two innings scores in the match.

The first three innings scores were below 200 apiece, and South Africa had a massive target of 284 to win - nearly 200 runs more than their first-innings total. They slid to 105 for 6, but Dave Nourse walked in and added over 120 runs with Gordon White. Then they lost three wickets fairly quickly, with 45 runs still needed, but Nourse orchestrated a match-winning tenth-wicket partnership with Percy Sherwell in an hour of exhilarating cricket. Almost inarguably, this Nourse classic is the best ever sub-100 Test innings. The fact that the England side was not particularly strong should not detract from this remarkable win.

No problems with the shortlist for West Indies. Although a case could be made for inclusion of the Brisbane tie and the SCG win against Bradman's Australians in 1931, the three matches I've selected are the crème de la crème of their wins. The one-run win in Adelaide, the miracle in Bridgetown inspired by Brian Lara's magnificent 153 not out (the third best Test innings ever on my Bat-100 list), and the epic in Chattogram - a chase of close to 400 runs, orchestrated by a debutant, Kyle Mayers, with a double-century. With a heavy heart I have to let go of the recent amazing narrow win in Brisbane, inspired by Shamar Joseph.

For the final selection, I have zeroed in on the 1993 Adelaide Test. With the series in the balance, West Indies could only put up a low-to-middling total of 252 in which Lara's 52 was the highest score. Curtly Ambrose's magnificent 6 for 74 gave them a useful lead of nearly 40 runs. Then they lost their way, and despite Richie Richardson's quick-fire 72, were dismissed for 146, losing their last six wickets for 22 runs, all but one of them to Tim May, who was unplayable. Australia had a relatively easy target, 186, but Ambrose and Courtney Walsh did not allow them to settle and soon reduced them to 102 for 8. Then the game took a turn and May added 42 for the ninth wicket with Justin Langer, and 40 for the last wicket with Craig McDermott. May batted for over two hours and Australia were a run away from tying the match when Walsh struck and West Indies won by a single run. West Indies went on to win the series 2-1.

New Zealand's shortlist includes two of their greatest and closest wins - the one against Australia in Hobart in 2011 and the recent forever-coming-from-behind win after following on, at the Basin Reserve. The third pick might be a surprise to some: not necessarily a close or exciting match but one that was very important to New Zealand - the 2021 WTC final. It saddens me to leave out their recent Mumbai win, but I have only three places to fill.

Not an easy final selection. Close-fought wins from losing situations or a match in which history was made? After long deliberation, I zeroed in on the WTC final. I cannot but respect the fact that this was the first serious tournament win for New Zealand.

They prepared well for the match by playing a two-Test series against England and winning that. They dismissed the strong Indian batting line-up for a below-par 217 in the first innings, thanks to wonderful bowling by Kyle Jamieson. The Indian bowlers did a good job but New Zealand took a small, useful lead. Then, led by Tim Southee, New Zealand bowled purposefully and incisively, dismissing India for 170, leaving a target of 139, which was chased down rather comfortably. These were, arguably, New Zealand's greatest six cricketing days ever.

Two matches in India's shortlist select themselves. The magnificent Kolkata win against Australia after following on, and the win in Brisbane a few years ago, where they chased a huge target. For the third entry, older fans might go for the 1971 Oval Test, as I did. Somewhat younger ones might pick the 1981 win at the MCG, and those younger still might opt for the Mohali win in 2010 against Australia.

For the greatest Test, could anyone be faulted for selecting the Kolkata match, where India hauled themselves back from the brink of despair and to a famous series win? However, I have gone with the Brisbane match, mainly because it was an away Test, a most unexpected win, and led to an away series win over Australia.

Two above-par first-innings scores left India only 30-odd runs behind. Australia batted well again in the second dig and set a formidable target of 328. The win was achieved through three contrasting fifties - an attacking 91 by Shubman Gill, a patient 56 by Cheteshwar Pujara, and finally an attacking, match-winning 89 by Rishabh Pant. Washington Sundar, who put on an important partnership with Shardul Thakur in the first innings, played a crucial cameo in the chase. The result was among India's greatest days in Test cricket, and it came at a bastion of Australian cricket to boot.

Pakistan's trio of matches starts with the 1954 Oval Test, where Fazal Mahmood was virtually unplayable. Then the Test at the MCG a quarter-century later, which is remembered for Sarfraz Nawaz's magical performance. And finally the miracle win orchestrated by Inzamam-ul-Haq in Karachi against Australia. These are largely uncontroversial choices, though I would say that the three narrow wins in the 1980s and 1990s in India make a case for consideration.

The final selection, too, is clear-cut: the Oval Test of 1954, which was among the first ten Tests Pakistan played. A new Test team met England, a tough home side, on their own patch. The match PQI (pitch-quality index) was a low 26.4, which means it was among the 25 most bowling-friendly pitches of all time.

Pakistan won the toss, batted first, surprisingly, and were promptly dismissed for 133. Fazal Mahmood was devastating in a 30-over unbroken spell, taking six wickets, and the two teams finished on par. Then Pakistan managed to score 164, despite being 82 for 8 at one point, thanks to a sizeable ninth-wicket partnership between Wazir Mohammad and Zulfiqar Ahmed. The target of 168 proved a bridge too far for England, thanks to another magnificent 30-over spell by Fazal. He took 12 wickets for 99 runs, one of the greatest bowling performances ever in a Test match.

Two of the choices for Sri Lanka are almost set in stone - the Galle win in 2015 against India, where they came back from the depths and snatched victory; and the Durban win of 2019, which came about thanks to an all-time-great innings by Kusal Perera. The third is another win from nowhere, in Abu Dhabi against Pakistan, where Sri Lanka defended a target of 136 with nonchalance. The Rawalpindi win of 2000, against the two Ws, was in the mix too.

This was arguably the toughest decision for me. Do I go with the Dinesh Chandimal and Rangana Herath 2015 comeback for the ages, or with Perera pulling a magical win out of his hat against South Africa? I finally went with that last match, the Durban epic of 2019.

South Africa made a below-par total of 235 in the first innings but took a crucial lead of 44 on a pitch that was not easy-paced. They then batted competently and went past 250 in their second innings to set a tough target of just over 300 runs. Sri Lanka were in dire straits at many times in the first third of their chase, and lost half their side for 110. Then Perera added just under a hundred runs with Dhananjaya de Silva, after which three more wickets fell: at 226 for 9 they had about a 1% chance of winning. Perera had to score lots of runs, and keep Vishwa Fernando away from the bowling. He did so magnificently for an hour and a half, away from home and against a fearsome bowling attack, holding his bat aloft at the end of the innings that provided Sri Lanka with their greatest moment in Test cricket.

The other four teams

Zimbabwe
The two wins against full-strength India sides, by 61 runs in 1998 and six wickets in 2001, both in Harare, present themselves as prime candidates for Zimbabwe's greatest win. However, the away win over Pakistan in Peshawar in 1998 overrides these two.

Pakistan, batting first in that game, posted a good total of 296. Then Neil Johnson played one of the great innings against a fearsome Pakistani attack, but his 107 could only help Zimbabwe to 238, which was a deficit of over 50. Henry Olonga and Pommie Mbangwa dismissed a strong Pakistani batting line-up for 103. Still, the target of 162 was not a cakewalk, considering how good Pakistan's bowling was. However, Zimbabwe knocked it off comfortably, for their greatest day as a Test team.

Bangladesh
We could nominate the amazing win over New Zealand, away, in 2022. Or the fighting win over Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2017. Or the recent away wins over Pakistan. However, I cannot think of a match more significant than the close home win over the strong Australians in Mirpur in 2017.

Bangladesh recovered from 10 for 3 to post a decent first-innings total of 260, thanks mainly to fifties by Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan. Then Shakib produced one of his best Test bowling spells ever, taking five wickets for 68, and Australia folded for 217. Nathan Lyon was equally devastating and Bangladesh could only score 221 in their second innings, setting Australia a target of 265. Despite David Warner's fighting hundred, and being well placed at 158 for 2, Australia collapsed to 244, thanks to another five-wicket haul by Shakib, leaving Bangladesh winners by 20 runs. Shakib's was one of the greatest all-round performances of all time.

Afghanistan
In their short career of 11 Tests so far, Afghanistan have won four - only Australia won more Tests (six) in their first 11. Four teams out of the top eight, South Africa, New Zealand, India and Sri Lanka did not win any of their first 11. Despite the absence of a home venue, Afghanistan have started very well indeed. In a way, this makes the selection of a standout match for them rather straightforward.

Among those four wins, the one over Bangladesh in Chattogram in 2019 was arguably their finest. Helped by a Rahmat Shah hundred, Afghanistan got to a good first-innings total of 342. They then dismissed the strong Bangladesh batting line-up for just over 200, and in their second innings, batted efficiently to set a target of 398. The big win was a mere formality. Rashid Khan was the main orchestrator of the victory with 11 wickets and a fifty.

Ireland
Until now I have selected matches that ended in wins for the 11 teams concerned. That needs to change when it comes to Ireland. They recently won their first three matches - against Afghanistan and Zimbabwe. Great though these wins were for them, there is no doubt their best days came a few years earlier, in a match they lost to England.

At Lord's in 2019, Ireland dismissed the strong England team for a low 85. Then they batted competently and took a useful first-innings lead of over 120. In their second innings, England were doing well, at 182 for 2, when Ireland struck, and about a hundred runs later had them eight down, leading by about 120 runs. It was Ireland's game to lose, even then. What happened afterwards showed Ireland's lack of experience. They allowed England to get past 300 and then were themselves dismissed for 38 chasing 182. Despite the big loss, it was Ireland's Test for three days and they could hold their heads high that there were quite a few times in the match when they had mighty England on the ropes.

The only team outside of these dozen that has played a Test is the ICC team that played Australia in 2005. That was a hotchpotch of a match, hastily arranged, and did not really mean anything. Maybe the only significance of the game was that, ultimately, it helped Muthiah Muralidaran reach the round figure of 800 Test wickets, five years later.

Your selections

My gut feeling is that at least two matches in my final shortlists for each team will turn up in the lists of most readers who might want to draw them up based on their own judgement. If you think England's finest hours were at Headingley, in 1981 and 2019, that is perfectly all right. Many of you might think India's most defining moment was at Kolkata in 2001, or the Gabba Test of 2021. I understand all of you. You could email me your shortlists and pick for best Test for each team if you like.

You could write to me via the Talking Cricket Group (more about it below), if you are a member of it, or direct to my email if you have it, or to my alternative email.

Let me say that I am interested only in the final selections of the single greatest Test for each of the teams. The shortlists will require lots of time and effort to process, and so I cannot peruse them. Any reasonable format will do. It might be a good idea to have the phrase "12-12-12" in the subject line. You could send in your pick for one or more teams (I will not insist on a complete selection for 12 teams). I will compile the responses I receive and provide a summarised update after a month or so.

Conclusion

From the eight selected matches (for the top eight teams), one is from the first decade of the 20th century, two from the 1950s, one from the 1980s, one from the 1990s, one from the 2010s, and two from 2021 - a wide period of coverage indeed. In the secondary group of teams, 2019 had two Tests, and 2017 and 1998, one Test each.

The toughest decisions were when I had to select the one Test for South Africa (Dave Nourse vs Fanie de Villiers), India (VVS Laxman and Harbhajan, or Pant and Mohammed Siraj?), Sri Lanka (how can one select one between the Perera and Chandimal innings?), and New Zealand (the easy win in WTC final or the single-run win after following on, or the Doug Bracewell show?) These were really difficult and I spent many hours on these four teams. The other four were relatively easy. Perhaps the toughest was the Sri Lanka choice, where the Galle and Durban Tests could not be separated at all until the very last.

If up against the wall to name which Tests caused me a lot of heartache to not feature in the final selections, I would list three: India's comeback-for-the-ages win in Kolkata against Australia, South Africa's win against Australia at the SCG in 1994, and Sri Lanka's 2015 Galle miracle against India.

This article is dedicated to the memory of the cricket followers who lost their lives in the stampede in Bengaluru last week. May their souls rest in peace. My prayers and thoughts are with the families of those who passed away.

Talking Cricket Group

Any reader who wishes to join the general purpose cricket ideas exchange group I have set up called the Talking Cricket Group can send me an email requesting inclusion, saying what their name is, place of residence, and what work they currently do. It is recommended you use a personal (Gmail ideally) email id. I have found that I have sometimes have difficulties including emails with domains that are non-Gmail.

Email me at here with your comments and I will respond. This email id is to be used only for posting comments. Please note that readers whose emails are derogatory to the author or any player will have their email ids permanently blocked.

Anantha Narayanan has written for ESPNcricinfo and CastrolCricket and worked with a number of companies on their cricket performance ratings-related systems

Twelve teams, 12 Tests: the greatest match each Test team has played

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