A test match is a game that puts a cricketer’s patience and mental power to the Test, with a victory won session by session.
Test cricket, rather than shorter format games, is used to assess a cricketer’s toughness.
In reality, test cricket is akin to a battleground where you must fight for five days to win a battle. So it is because it assesses the player’s actual ability.
Test cricket has seen its reasonable proportion of nail-biting and stressful finishes. It is because of the type of games in which sides are so evenly matched, and the outcome is so close.
They are matches that will live long in the memory of those who witnessed them, with those who saw recalling brave bat or ball efforts. Yet, it was from the players who stood up when it was most required.
Some readers may wonder how test cricket determines actual skill. It is because, in short form matches, you must be attentive for no more than 4 hours when bowling or batting.
However, in test cricket, you must concentrate for nearly a day. It’s what makes a test match unique.
In this piece, let’s talk about the recent over-test triumph in the previous years.
Many people believe that test cricket is declining, but the Vodafone test match 2020-2021 between Australia and India proved incorrect by becoming one of the finest series ever.
Here are the Best Final Overs In Test Cricket that features on our list.
Sri Lanka Vs England – 2nd Test Leeds 2014:
The second Test between Sri Lanka and England was held at Leeds. Soon after seven o’clock in the evening, Sri Lanka took the final Test by 100 runs, and with it, the series.
Given how simple the objective appeared to be at the start of the game, it was surprisingly stressful.
With only two balls left in the contest, paceman Shaminda Eranga hit a short hop to Jimmy Anderson. It exploded off his glove and landed on the leg side of Rangana Herath.
The Sri Lankan squad enveloped the bowler as the ball was caught. But then, it resulted in a convoluted mess of humans on the ground.
The minutes ticked away. Three consecutive maidens were thrown, two of which were by Anderson.
As the daylight broke through, Herath switched ends. Moeen made his way down the field and scored his maiden run for 15 balls, bringing his total to 97.
There were seven more overs to go. Nuwan Pradeep was introduced, and Moeen leg-glanced his first ball straight to reach his century, which was received quietly. It had been a stunning batting display from a brilliant batsman spanning nearly six hours.
Ultimately, just as it had at Lord’s, it went down to the final over for England.
Indeed, Sri Lanka deserved to win the match, but England should be commended for how they fought through the day. So it was after such a disastrous final session on the previous evening.
Sri Lanka Vs England 2014 Lord’s
Sri Lanka opened the Test series by bowling first as they had done in the ODI and T20I series.
Knowing them, Joe Root led England’s batting at Lord’s. Then, he became the third-youngest player to smash a double century at the historic stadium.
As a retaliation, Shaminda Eranga revised his first-inning performance, reducing 46/0 to 69/3 once the hosts batted in the second innings.
Rangana Herath, who took four wickets and enabled the visitors to reach a 390-run target, backed him up.
The best is saved for last, and the last day of the first Test provided many situations. However, it made the match memorable in Lord’s Tests.
Sri Lanka had to bat for three sessions to tie the game. They started the third session on 159/3 in 56 overs.
England had taken six wickets in that period. So when umpire Paul Reiffel gave out Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Pradeep, it was in good spirits.
A superb DRS call from Pradeep reversed the lbw judgment on the game’s last ball. It allowed the Lankan Lions to record one of the most historic victories ever at the Mecca of cricket.
Pakistan vs Australia 2018:
Usman Khawaja played for over nine hours. It was to help Australia rescue a draw against Pakistan during the first Test in Dubai.
Set an implausible win goal of 462, Australia resumed on 136-3, seeking to compel a draw at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
The overnight pairing of Khawaja and Travis Head played well in the first session. They denied Pakistan’s onslaught and guided their side to 215-3 at lunchtime.
When off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez caught Head lbw for 72, Pakistan threatened to slash through the Australian middle of the race.
Soon after, debutant Marnus Labuschagne was bowled for 13 by leg-spinner Yasir Shah.
Australia skipper Tim Paine calmed in after seeming vulnerable against the bowlers for the opening half-hour on a deteriorating surface. He then formed an essential partnership with Usman Khawaja.
Khawaja scored a century in the fourth innings of a Test series in Asia off 224 balls with Ten fours, becoming only the seventh Australian.
“(It was the intention to) just bat. “I wasn’t overthinking,” said Khawaja, who was named man-of-the-match.
Women’s Cricket Australia vs England (Ashes) 2022:
England’s No. 11 hitter blocked out the last over to achieve a thrilling draw in the women’s Ashes Test.
The Ashes Test had concluded dramatically, with all four conceivable outcomes coming into the final few overs of day 4 in Canberra.
England came painfully close to doing the seemingly impossible. Instead, it was amassing the highest fourth-innings team total in women’s Test cricket history.
But it wasn’t enough, as the exciting match ended in a stalemate.
It was the most exciting 2021/22 summer cricket day, perhaps except for day 5 of Sydney’s New Year’s Test.
Australia wanted one wicket with two overs, and England wanted 13 runs.
Sutherland’s relatively routine penultimate over, where only one run was scored, saw several deliveries go beyond the outside edge.
It did come down to the last over in the end. England No. 11 Kate Cross, like James Anderson four weeks previously, brilliantly knocked out the final six balls. It was to prevent a catastrophic loss, and the Test was tied.
According to former England spinner and Fox Cricket analyst Isa Guha, it was “one of the finest Test matches in Ashes history”.
The comments made included Knight getting demolished with the crew.
Naturally, they want to place themselves in a position to win the Test series – they were only a single wicket away.
Australia vs England (Ashes) 2022
Steve Smith struggled to make an impression with the bat, but he came close with the ball, claiming his first Test wicket after 2016.
On the fourth Ashes, Test Day Five in Sydney, England attempted to deny Australia victory for the first time since November 2016.
With three overs remaining and England on 268 for eight, the tourists were forced to rely on luck aided by dwindling light.
Due to the poor lighting, the umpires advised Australian captain Pat Cummins to utilize spinners instead of speed bowlers after the 99th over.
At times, Jack Leach and Stuart Broad had done an outstanding job keeping the hosts at bay.
But everything changed when Cummins unexpectedly opted to pass the ball to Steve Smith.
Leach played out the first five balls, but on the penultimate delivery of the 100th over, Smith flung a pitch just wide of the off-stump. Leach edged to David Warner upon first slip for a catch.
As Smith scored for the first time in Test cricket after 2016, the Australian players were ecstatic.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad successfully navigated the final two overs to secure a memorable draw despite the enormous strain.
Smith last knocked South Africa’s Vernon Philander in 2016 November, and he has 18 Test wickets to his name.
After being given a target of 388, England held their nerve for a dramatic draw with only one wicket remaining in the five-match Ashes series. It is because Australia failed to take a 4-0 lead.
James Anderson walked in at no in a tense final over from Smith. 11, held his cool and came out on top.
The guests put up an intense fight up the second innings, with Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, and Zak Crawley all putting in strong performances.
Bairstow hammered 41 runs off 105 balls in a tenacious inning, including three fours. During the 1st innings, Bairstow had already hit one century.
Stokes, on the other hand, struck 60 runs off 123 balls. In addition, the swashbuckling all-rounder hit ten fours and a maximum.
Crawley, the opener, also played a key role, hitting 77 runs off 100 balls, including 13 fours.
After winning the first three Tests, Australia has already been clinched.
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