300 Plus Totals in Fourth Innings in Test History (Full)

300-Plus In The Fourth Innings Of A Test - Mohammad Shoaib Ahmed (Pakistani Cricketer,Sept.1993)

It is the supreme challenge. It stirs the senses, quickens the pulse, sets the heart racing. The challenge of getting 400-plus in the fourth innings of a Test to win the match. It hasn't happened often in the 1223 Tests upto and including the 1993 Old Trafford Test between England and Australia. It is indeed, a rarity of a record. In fact, only twice before has a team won after being challenged to get 400-plus in the final innings. India and Australia share the distinction. On five further occasions the challenged team has picked up the gauntlet and reached a 400-plus total, only to perish short of the target and lose the Test, three times by tragically narrow margins, a cruel fate shared by India, New Zealand and England. There have been four other occasions where a team has been challenged to get 400-plus in the fourth innings, and had to settle for a draw even after crossing the 400-run barrier in the indecisive match, three times by heart-breakingly narrow margins, a misfortune agonisingly suffered by India, England and South Africa. When Australia set England the task of getting 512 in the fourth innings to win the first Test at Old Trafford, Manchester, on June 6, 1993, and England spiritedly carried the forlorn fight to a respectable 332, it provided the 61st instance of a team scoring 300-plus in the fourth innings of a Test for the 30th time to lose. On 10 occasions, the team has won whilst 19 times a draw has been effected, and on one memorable occasion at Madras, it was a tie. (Table 1 lists instances when 300-plus runs have been scored in Test history) The accompanying Table II gives the particulars of the eleven matches where a total of 400-plus was scored in the fourth innings. Hereunder are relevant details of these Tests in the chronological order in which they took place in the cricket annals.

December 1924. Test No. 158: Australia won by 193 runs in Sydney after setting England the task of getting a daunting 605 in the fourth innings. England, undismayed, hit out with centuries by Herbert Sutcliffe and Frank Woolley and an unbeaten 50 on debut by 'Tich' Freeman, fighting their way to 411 all out on the seventh day of the match. Those were the days when Tests were played to a finish in Australia. April 1930. Test No. 193: This timeless Test in Kingston lasting nine days was abandoned as a draw when rain prevented play on the last two days and England had to break off to catch a ship on the voyage home. West Indies, set a near-impossible 836 in the fourth innings to win, got to 408 for 5, before calling it quits, George Headley scoring 223. March 1939. Test No. 271: The most famous timeless Test of 'em all lasting ten days. It also was called off as a draw in Durban, South Africa, when the visiting England team had compiled a massive 654 for 5 (Bill Edrich 219, Walter Hammond 140, Paul Gibb 120) in the fourth innings, only a mere matter of 42 runs short of the winning target of 696, because they had to catch their steamer at Cape Town for the return journey. August 1947. Test No. 289: South Africa, set 451 to win in the fourth innings, finished only 28 runs short of their target when time ran out in this four-day Test at the Kennigston Oval, London, opening batsman Bruce Mitchell scoring 189 not out in the total of 423 for 7, to follow up his first innings knock of 120. July 1948. Test No. 302: England captain Norman Yardley challenged Australia to get 404 to win in the fourth innings when he made what he thought was a safe declaration on the fifth and final morning of the match on a dusty, crumbling pitch at Headingley, Leeds. The Aussie skipper Donald Bradman accepted the stiff challenge and with a scorching 173 not out carried his team to a famous victory by seven wickets with opener Arthur Morris (182) in only 217 minutes. June 1973. Test No. 722: New Zealand, bowled out for 97 in the first innings, in which the extras were the largest contributor with 20, the top scorer curiously enough being the No. 11 batsman Richard Collinge with 17, had been set a formidable 479 to win in the fourth innings at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. In a tremendous bid for victory, the never-say-die Kiwis got to 440, thanks to captain Bev Congdon's 176 and Vic Pollard's 116, to lose by only 38 runs. April 1976. Test No. 775: India achieved one of Test cricket's most remarkable victories when challenged to get 403 to win in the fourth innings at Port-of-Spain with time to spare, the Windies skipper prematurely declaring 55 minutes before lunch on the fourth day. India remorselessly inched their way to the winning target with Sunil Gavaskar scoring a gritty 102, anchorman Mohinder Amarnath a dogged 85, and Gundappa Vishwanath an enterprising 112. India won by 6 wickets with seven of the 20 mandatory overs left. March 1977: Test No. 803: The celebrated Centenary Test in Melbourne, which Australia won by 45 runs after setting England a target of 463 in the fourth innings to win. England despite a gallant 174 by Derek Randall, could total only 417, to perish by the same margin of runs in their 525th Test as they did in their first-ever Test exactly one hundred years ago. January-February 1978. Test No. 813: Another shining chapter in India's Test annals, though this time it was only to seek glory in defeat. A fitting finale to a thrilling fifth Test, each side having won two Tests earlier in the rubber. Set a target of 493 to win, India made a herculean effort to reach 445-still a world record for the highest fourth innings total in a Test by a losing side, to finish just 47 runs short of a historic win. August-September 1979. Test No. 854: Yet another epic fightback by India. Set 438 to win at the Kennington Oval, London, India made a dazzling dash for victory, spearheaded by a rampant Sunil Gavaskar firing on all cylinders. At tea on the fourth day, 33 for no loss (Gavaskar 25). At close, 76 for none (Gavaskar 42). At lunch on the fifth day, 192 for no loss (Gavaskar 102). At tea 304 for 1 (Gavaskar 184 not out, his opening stand with Chetan Chauhan who scored 80 worth 213 runs). When Sunil was fourth out for a magnificent 221 in 490 minutes off 443 balls with 21 fours, India required only 49 off 7.4 overs. In a tension-filled climax, four more wickets tumbled for 13 runs, and at the end India was fighting for survival at 429 for 8-only nine tragic runs short of a fantastic win. August 1981. Test No. 907: Australia, set an Olympian task to get 506 in the fourth innings to win, lost by 103 runs despite centuries by Allan Border and Graham Yallop. Their total of 402 at Old Trafford is their highest losing total in the fourth innings and only two runs short of their highest-ever winning total in the fourth innings of a Test.

Table I: 300-Plus Totals in the Fourth Innings Win Tie Draw Loss Total England 1 - 5 10 16 Australia 5 - 3 6 14 India 1 1 6 5 13 West Indies 3 - 1 2 6 South Africa - - 2 2 4 Pakistan - - 1 2 3 New Zealand - - - 2 2 Sri Lanka - - 2 1 3 10 1 20 30 61

Table II: 400-Plus Totals in the Fourth Innings To Win Runs Scored Runs Set Time 406-4 403 595 min Ind v WI Port-of-Spain 1975-76 405-3 404 344 min Aus v Eng Headingley 1948

To Lose Runs Scored Runs Set Margin 445 493 47 Ind v Aus Adelaide 1977-78 440 479 38 NZ v Eng Trent Bridge 1973 417 463 45 Eng v Aus Melbourne 1976-77 411 605 193 Eng v Aus Sydney 1924-25 402 506 103 Aus v Eng Old Trafford 1981

To Draw Runs Scored Runs Set Diff. 654-5 696 42 Eng v RSA Durban 1938-39 429-8 438 9 Ind v Eng The Oval 1979 423-7 451 28 SA v Eng The Oval 1947 408-5 836 428 WI v Eng Kingston 1929-30