At the end of the day

The run-out that wasn't
West Indies v England, Port-of-Spain, 1973-74
When Derek Underwood bowled the last ball of the second day and Bernard Julien patted it to Tony Greig at silly point, everyone thought that was it. Julien turned and began to walk back; Alan Knott, the wicketkeeper, took the bails off; and the non-striker, Alvin Kallicharran, who had backed up a couple of yards, continued to walk, without touching back in the crease. Greig, though, threw and hit the stumps at the non-striker's end and appealed for a run-out. The umpire, Douglas Sang Hue, who had not called time, gave Kallicharran out after a little hesitation.

However, after a strong reaction from the crowd, and heated discussions, the decision was overturned and a statement issued by the English management that "in the interest of cricket as a whole, and the future of this tour in particular... the appeal against the batsman be withdrawn". The statement also carried an apology from Greig, who said he in no way intended his "instinctive actions to be contrary to the spirit of the game". Be that as it was, Garry Sobers had to chaperone Greig back to his hotel to ward off possible attacks from irate members of the crowd.

"Done him between his legsh"
Australia v Pakistan, Sydney, 1995-96
Basit Ali had flustered Shane Warne with his pad-play all through the series. On the third day of the third Test, Basit looked set for a similar knock, when just before the last ball of the day Warne called Ian Healy over for a chat. In Warne's own words, "We played it up a bit later, but the conversation actually went: 'What are we going to do for dinner tonight, mate? Do you feel Mexican? Italian?'" He would settle for Pakistani in the end. As Healy walked back after the chat, he said to Warne, "See if you can do some magic, see if you can get him around his legs or something." The ball, delivered from round the stumps, pitched outside leg, ripped across and homed in to Basit's pads. He offered an unconvincing thrust of the leg as defence, but the ball found its way to the furniture. A delighted Richie Benaud cooed on air: "You wouldn't believe it, he hash done him between his legsh." Basit faded away from cricket soon after, playing only one more Test.

Non-sporting non-smokers
Smokers v Non-Smokers, Melbourne, 1886-87
The most interesting incident of this four-day game came right at the end. Following on after having made 356 in reply to the Non-Smokers' 803 (Arthur Shrewsbury made 236), Smokers were on 135 for 4 when time ran out. Come the final delivery of the day, William Scotton, after playing it down in front of himself, picked up the ball for a souvenir. However, the fielders appealed and Scotton was given out handled the ball. It was the third time in first-class cricket that a batsman had been given out in that fashion.

The Menace and the King
Australia v West Indies, Melbourne, 1981-82
After Kim Hughes had hit a counter-attacking century on a spiteful first-day track at the MCG to push Australia to a fighting 198, West Indies had to bat out 35 tense minutes before close of play. Promptly, Terry Alderman removed Faoud Bacchus, and Dennis Lillee knocked Desmond Haynes and the nightwatchman, Colin Croft, over. That brought Viv Richards out into the middle. Alderman bowled his last over of the day off a short run so that Lillee could squeeze in one more over.

In the last over, Lillee sent down three bouncers in a row, which Richards uncharacteristically ducked, before he tried to hook one and was beaten for pace. For the final ball, Lillee ran in full pelt, and instead of a bouncer fired one in full. Richards, late in getting forward, was bowled. Lillee ran nearly all the way to the boundary in celebration. The crowd remained at the ground for nearly half an hour after, chanting "Lill-ee! Lill-ee."

Six fix
Australia v England, Perth, 1974-75
Doug Walters was seven short of a century - and 10 short of a hundred in a session - when Bob Willis began the final (eight-ball) over of the second day. Ross Edwards took a leg bye off the first ball, handing the strike over. Walters top-edged a bouncer for a four off the second, and then remained on 97 for the next five balls, which Willis fired in full and straight. The last one, though, climbed chest-high; Walters rocked back, hooked it into the stands, tucked his bat under his arm, and walked back to the pavilion. But the dressing room was oddly deserted. Suddenly, Ian Chappell burst through the door to the showers and said, "You dopey bastard. What do you mean by playing that totally irresponsible shot and getting out on the last ball of the day. Haven't you learned anything about team first, individual second'. Chappelli glared at a confused Walters for a couple of seconds before breaking into a huge grin and enveloping him with a hug. The rest of the guys dashed out from hiding in the showers and the celebrations began.

Over Slasher's dead body
Australia v West Indies, Adelaide, 1960-61
Set a target of 460 in 120 overs, Australia ended the fourth day of the fourth Test of the famous 1960-61 series against West Indies at 31 for 3. That night Jackie Hendricks and Gerry Alexander were at Don Bradman's house for dinner. As they were leaving, Alexander said, "Well, it looks like we've got you tomorrow, Sir Don." Bradman replied, "Yes, it looks that way, but if ever there is a situation for [Ken] Mackay, it's tomorrow."

And so it turned out to be. It came down to 207 for 9, with Mackay needing to survive 110 minutes in the company of the No. 11, Lindsay Kline, to deny West Indies an unbeatable 2-1 lead. Two minutes into their partnership, Garry Sobers appealed confidently against Mackay for a catch at silly mid-on, but the umpire ruled it a bump ball. The pair batted on, and as the clock inched towards six, Frank Worrell asked Wes Hall to bowl the last over of the match.

It went down to Hall's last delivery, which he pulled up from because of a faulty run-up. Frustrated, he hurled the ball into the ground. Thinking the game was over, hundreds of schoolchildren ran on to the ground. After a lengthy wait to clear the field, Hall charged in again for the last delivery of the Test. It was a pacy bouncer, which Mackay let crash into his chest. It left a bruise that he would display proudly for a week after. "We were lucky to see it through," Mackay said later. "I don't know how many overs we played, or what the score was. I was interested in only one thing: the clock."

Run like hell
South Africa v England, Durban, 1948-49
On the last evening in Durban, on a rapidly deteriorating track, in iffy light - not that they would have appealed - England had to score 128 in 135 minutes to win. From being down at 70 for 6, thanks largely to the efforts of debutant fast bowler Cuan McCarthy, England recovered to a stage where Alec Bedser and Cliff Gladwin were left with the task of getting 12 runs in the final five-odd minutes. Lindsay Tuckett bowled the last eight-ball over. Two leg-byes, a streaky boundary and a stolen run ensued, and the scores were level with two balls to go. The batsmen agreed that they would run for anything off the penultimate ball. But Gladwin bailed out at the last minute, sending the onrushing Bedser back as the ball flew outside off to the wicketkeeper. The last ball crashed into Gladwin's thigh and rolled in front of him. "I roared at the top of my voice and we both ran like men possessed," Bedser recalled. "I got home easily, and then saw Cliff dancing up and down with delight. I knew we had won." The bruise on Gladwin's thigh was photographed, and he proudly said, "I hope it stays there for 50 years." It remains the only occasion in Test cricket where the winning run was scored off the scheduled final ball of a match.

Genius is as genius does
Pakistan v India, Multan, 2003-04
Looking to enforce a follow-on after having scored 675, India were getting restless. They were close to finishing three days without having bowled Pakistan out even once. Moin Khan and Abdul Razzaq had added 43 for the sixth wicket when Rahul Dravid asked Sachin Tendulkar to bowl the last over of the day. Tendulkar started with only two men close in on the off side, but Moin kept getting progressively more nervous every ball. The last delivery landed on off stump and Moin went forward rather hesitantly. It was the googly, one that broke back in sharply. Moin hurriedly opened his stance and tried to push it into the leg side, but the ball evaded the waft and thudded into his thigh before hitting leg stump. Pakistan were all out 43 runs later, followed on and lost by an innings and 52 runs, handing India a famous victory.

Double jeopardy
Australia v England, Manchester, 1993
In the Test in which Shane Warne announced himself with the "Ball of the Century", Mike Gatting was involved in another notable dismissal in the second innings. Gatting looked to be batting with ease on the fourth day, though England were in the unlikely pursuit of 512 to win. Graham Gooch was on 92 and the two had put on 60 runs when Merv Hughes ran in for one final time on the fourth day. "It appeared Gatt was expecting a bouncer," Steve Waugh wrote in his tour diary, of the last ball of the day. "Instead, Merv beat him with a good-length inswinger." Gatting was bowled all ends up. Ian Cover, co-author of the book Merv and Me, wrote: "Merv later said he was trying to bowl a short one but lost his footing and it came out as a yorker. I think he was being modest."

Hundred by twilight
Australia v England, Sydney, 2002-03
In his last Ashes series, Steve Waugh brought up a memorable hundred with a boundary off the last ball of the second day of the fifth Test. He had gone in to bat under pressure, by his own admission, as his place in the side was under scrutiny, with the media and a few former cricketers suggesting it was time for him to retire. During the course of the innings he went past 10,000 runs in Test cricket, and when the final over of the day came around, he needed five runs to bring up his 29th Test hundred and equal Don Bradman's Australian record for most Test centuries. Waugh dead-batted the first three balls of the over, from Richard Dawson, before square-driving the fourth for three runs past point. Adam Gilchrist handed the strike back with a single to midwicket as the crowd roared in approval. Nasser Hussain, the England captain, then took his time, having a chat with the bowler and adjusting his field as the crowd booed. Then, with a slip and two close-in fielders crowding him, Waugh drove the last ball through cover point for a boundary. "40,000 people went crazy, clapping and cheering, roaring out my name," he wrote later. "I never imagined that this would happen and when it did it was very emotional for me. In terms of personal performance, can it get better than this?"

The hand of the devil
Pakistan v Australia, Karachi, 1982-83
In the first Test of the series, Australia batted first and made 284. In reply Pakistan were on a strong 168 for 1 at the end of day two. Mohsin Khan, who had made 58, played the last ball of the day into the ground, watched as it spun back towards his stumps, and grabbed it and threw it away before it could hit them. He was duly given out handled the ball. "I just didn't know the bloody rule," Mohsin told Cricinfo. "Under the rules I was, of course, out. Interestingly, a few overs earlier, I had exchanged a few words with Rod Marsh and told him to keep his mouth shut. This handling the ball happened shortly after that. As you might guess, he was the loudest appealer of them all!" The crowd didn't like the judgment and the next day pelted fruit at the Australian fielders, forcing Kim Hughes to lead his team off the field twice. Mohsin had the last laugh, though, hitting a six to win the game in the second innings.