5 Instances where teams came back from behind to win the Test series
Winning a Test series after coming from behind always makes it an absorbing affair and out of 40 such instances where a team has won a series after trailing in the history of the game, we pick the top five.
4. England beat Sri Lanka 2-1 in 3-Test series in Sri Lanka in 2000-01
This remained England’s first-ever victory in a full-fledged away Test series versus Sri Lanka and the only so far. Sri Lanka were always a team to beat in their den but England, who were amid a great run with three consecutive Test series victories, took the challenge even after getting thumped in the first match in Galle by an innings and 28 runs.
They had just beaten Pakistan in Pakistan in the previous series and were eager to repeat the show in yet another Asian country. England’s fast bowlers did well to restrict Sanath Jayasuriya’s Sri Lanka for less than 300 in the second Test in Kandy and the visitors then took a crucial lead of 90 runs, thanks to a century by skipper Nasser Hussain. Sri Lanka then lost six wickets to neutralise the lead but for Kumar Sangakkara (95) who refused to give up.
They gave England a tricky target of 161 in the fourth innings and just when the visitors started making a mess of it by getting reduced to 89 for 4 and then 97 for 5, it was left to the lower order plus Graeme Hick to take them home and they did it successfully with three wickets to spare. This win suddenly made England a different side altogether and they fought hard in a low-scoring third Test in Colombo to win it by 4 wickets to secure a historic win.
The spinners along with a gritty Graham Thorpe competed with the Lankans ball by ball to win this game albeit narrowly while chasing just 74 in the fourth innings. This series also saw England winning a three-Test series after trailing for the first time since 1888.
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