Highest successful run chases in Test cricket

Highest successful run chases in Test cricket: While India narrowly missed a chance to enter the history books after getting really close to chasing a mammoth target of 364 in the fourth innings on a fifth day pitch at Adelaide against Australia that proved to be Nathan Lyon’s paradise. Many teams have defied all odds to chase down totals in test matches, some of which would still seem improbable. Facing the ruthlessness of a deteriorating pitch and deadly conditions for batting, there have been players who have come out with flying colours out of the litmus test for any cricketer. West Indies, as every cricket fan would know, were the kings of cricket till their golden era ended and rightfully, they make it thrice into the top 10 of the highest successful run chases in a test match. Australia follow suit with the same number and then comes, the Asian giants India with two. South Africa and Sri Lanka are the two other members in this enviable list that has been carefully compiled by Cricket Tracker: Here are the Top 10 Highest successful run chases in Test cricket: 10. West Indies 348/5 Fantastic knock of 164 by Seymour Nurse guided WI to a historic win. (Photo Source: Getty Images) New Zealand v West Indies, Auckland (27th February- 3rd March 1969) This test match played during the early summer of 1969 between the Kiwis and the West Indians, was a 4 day test match with each over having 8 balls, as per the rules in that time. Bev Congdon and Bruce Taylor got the Kiwis to 323 in the first innings and the Kiwi bowlers bowled their opposition out for just 276 with Joey Carew making a century. New Zealand then scored 297 in the second innings before declaring and setting their opposition, a seemingly impossible target of 348 that was miraculously chased by the West Indies because of a fantastic knock of 164 by Seymour Nurse. 9. Sri Lanka 352/9 Sri Lanka stands at 8th position in this list with their highest chasing total of 352/9. (Photo Source: AFP) Sri Lanka v South Africa, Colombo (4th August- 8th August 2006) This can be regarded as one of the most thrilling test matches ever played as Sri Lanka managed to beat a resilient South Africa with just 1 wicket left. Ashwell Prince and AB de Villiers played brilliantly to take South Africa above the 350 run mark. Sri Lanka fell short by 40 runs of their opposition’s first innings score after a hostile bowling spell from Dale Steyn and Ntini. Boucher and Gibbs made sure that South Africa post a huge target of 352 for the Sri Lankans to chase. Nicki Boje bowled brilliantly but Mahela Jayawardene stood tall as he made a century but wickets continue to fell. He, fell for 123 but Maharoof and wicket keeper Prasanna Jayawardene stayed at the crease and dragged along as Sri Lanka won a thriller by just 1 wicket. 8. Australia 362/7 Graeme Wood and Craig Serjeant scored centuries for Australia and they managed to chase down a total of 362 in their 2nd innings. (Photo Source: Getty Images) West Indies vs Australia, Guyana (31st March- 5th April 1978) West Indians scored 205 in their first innings after fifties for Alvin Greenidge and Sew Shivnarine while Jeff Thompson and Wayne Clark picked four wickets apiece. Bob Simpson propelled Australia to a score of 286 and gave his team an eighty-one run lead. Larry Gomes and Basil Williams scored tons as West Indies went on to post a massive 439 in their second innings. Graeme Wood and Craig Serjeant scored centuries for Australia and they managed to chase down a total of 362 in their 2nd innings. 7. Australia 369/7 Australian Cricket team stands at 6th position in the list with their second highest chasing total in tests of 362/7. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Australia vs Pakistan, Hobart (18th November – 19th November 1999) Mohammad Wasim’s 92 runs in the first innings got Pakistan to a respectable 222 after the batting order faltered miserably. While the Australians started well with Michael Slater and Justin Langer playing well, spin magician Saqlain Mushtaq bowled a beautiful spell that saw him return with 7 wicket figures and Australia managing a meagre 24 run lead. Second innings saw, Pakistan posting a score of 392 after Inzamam Ul Haq scored a century and was supported well by Ijaz Ahmed and Saeed Anwar. The Australian batting almost collapsed with Langer at one end but a fiery innings from Adam Gilchrist which saw him get to 149 in just 163 balls and Langer hitting a calm century at the other end saw them getting to the mammoth target of 369 with 3 wickets in hand. 6. Pakistan 382/3 Pakistan 382/3. (Photo Source: AFP) Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, Pallakele (3rd July- 7th July, 2015): The 3rd and the decisive test match of Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka started at Pallakele with Misbah-Ul-Haq winning the toss and asking the home team to bat first. Sri Lanka scored 278 first up and in return bundled Pakistan for 215 earning themselves an important 63 runs lead for the second innings. Skipper Angelo Mathews struck an instrumental hundred (122 from 397 balls) to take his team to a position where they had ample runs and time to bowl Pakistan out. Chasing 377 in the 4th innings, the visitors were in a spot of real bother, two wickets down for just 13; but that was when things turned around. Veteran Younis Khan, build up his innings and the victory for his team with a classic 171 runs knock, during which he received a record formulating support from opener Shan Masood (125 of 337 balls). Pakistan skipper Misbah chipped in with a half century which took his team over the line and Pak registered a record run-chase and a rare series victory on Sri Lankan soils, grabbing the series 2-1. 5. India 387/4 Team India stands at 5th position here in the list with their highest chasing total of 387/4 in test matches. (Photo Source: AFP) India vs England, Chennai (11th December- 15th December 2008) Kevin Pietersen won the toss and elected to bat on a Chennai pitch that was supposed to crack heavily as the match progressed. A century from Strauss and fifties from Cook and Prior saw England posting 316 in the first innings. Flintoff and Panesar troubled the Indian batsmen as India got bowled out for 241, giving England, a handsome lead. In the second innings, Strauss hit his second century of the match and Collingwood joined the party with a ton as England declared at 311 at the loss of 9 wickets. India, then did the seeming inevitable as they reached their target of 387 after a stupendous century from Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and fifties from Sehwag, Gambhir and a finishing knock of 87 from Yuvraj Singh. 4. Australia 404/3 Australia team stands at 4th position in this list with their highest chasing total of 404/3. (Photo Source: PA Photos) England vs Australia, Leeds (22nd July- 27th July 1948) Cyril Washbrook and Bill Edrich hit centuries in the first innings as England posted a mammoth first innings total of 496. Neil Harvey and Sam Hoxton got to a century and half-century respectively for Australia as they took their team to 458, giving their opposition, a slender little lead. England’s top order played well collectively as all the four top order batsmen got to half-centuries and England ended their second innings at 365 before declaring. Sir Donald Bradman and Arthur Morris made merry of the English bowlers in the second innings as both posted scores of 173 and 182, respectively as Australia won by 7 wickets. 3. India 406/4 India grinned it out with the original little master Sunil Gavaskar getting a century to help India chase down 406/4. (Photo Source: Getty Images) West Indies vs India, Trinidad (7th April-12th April 1976) This was one of the most unexpected away wins for India and the fact that it came against the legendary West Indies, makes this match even more memorable for Indian cricket fans. Sir Vivian Richards blasted his way to 177, supported by Sir Clive Lloyd with a half-century but the performance of the Indian spin duo of Chandrasekhar and Bishan Bedi was remarkable. India’s batting faltered as no batting pair could forge a partnership and India was bowled out for 228, much less than West Indies’ first innings score of 359. The second innings saw West Indies declaring at 271 after a century from Alvin Kallicharan. What happened next, stumped everybody. India grinned it out with the original little master Sunil Gavaskar getting a century while Mohinder Amarnath managed 85. Gundappa Vishwanath hit a century as well, with Brij Patel playing the supporting role as India created history by chasing a target of 406 with 6 wickets in hand. The third highest successful run chase in test cricket history. 2. South Africa 414/4 South Africa stands at 2nd position here in the list with their highest chasing total of 414/4 against Australia. (Photo Source: PA Photos) Australia vs South Africa, Perth (17th December- 21st December 2008) Australia, posted a big total of 375 after contributions from Katich, Symonds, Clarke and Haddin. Mitchell Johnson bowled an unplayable spell of pace bowling on a lively Gabba pitch as he took 8 of the 10 wickets and South Africa was decimated at a score of 281. Australia posted 319 in the second innings after Haddin missed his century by 6 runs and others contributed with small scores. South Africa registered their names in history books as they chased the steep task of getting to 414; Graeme Smith and de Villiers hit centuries, while Amla, Kallis and Duminy got to fifties taking their team to a memorable win. 1. West Indies 418/7 West Indies tops the list with their highest chasing total of 418/7 against Australia. (Photo Source: Getty Images) West Indies vs Australia, Antigua (9th May- 13th May 2003) This match was quite interesting as both teams ended at the same first innings score of 240, nullifying any lead for either of the teams after Jermaine Lawson took 7 wickets to destroy Australia and was followed by some charismatic bowling from Brett Lee and Andy Bichel who took 3 wickets each and dismantled the West Indian batting order. The second inning scores virtually became the decisive parts of the match. Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden hit centuries but Australia’s batting order collapsed to Dillon’s bowling who took four decisive wickets. Australia managed to post 417 and gave a massive 418 run target to the West Indies who were supposed to lose but this Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan hit match-winning centuries to win a memorable test match and script their names in history books forever. This till date is the record for highest successful run chase in test cricket. Also Read – Top 10 Highest Innings Totals in Test Cricket (All Stats Updated Till 6th December, 2015)

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Highest successful run chases in Test cricket

2. South Africa 414/4

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