Big victories from small leads

West Indies have rarely been on the favourable end of Tests results and records in recent years, but their rout of England at Sabina Park was the second-lowest first-innings lead to produce an innings victory. West Indies had scraped together a lead of only 74 but that proved to be enough after Jerome Taylor took 5 for 11 to dismiss England for 51 in their second innings. This week's List looks at smallest leads that led to innings wins, and the largest leads that didn't.

New Zealand v England, Auckland, 1955
New Zealand's bid to draw level in the two-Test series suffered a blow when they were dismissed for 200 in the first innings, but the match seemed evenly poised after they exploited damp conditions and restricted England's lead to only 46. The pitch took turn and had variable bounce when New Zealand began their second innings and, as a result, they lost their first three wickets for 13 runs before tea on the third day. Len Hutton then brought Bob Appleyard into the attack and he cut through the hosts' batting order, taking three wickets in four balls to reduce them to 22 for 8. He was on a hat-trick for the second time in the match but was denied once again by Alex Moir. New Zealand didn't last long, though, and collapsed for 26, a score that still remains the lowest total in Test cricket, giving England victory by an innings and 20 runs.

Pakistan v West Indies, Lahore, 1986
Having lost the first Test in Faisalabad by 186 runs, West Indies dropped Patrick Patterson and picked a second specialist spinner - Clyde Butts joined Roger Harper - in their XI for the first time in 58 Tests. As it turned out, the pitch favoured the fast bowlers, and West Indies' spinners bowled only one over between them. Malcolm Marshall took 5 for 33 to dismiss Pakistan for 131 in the first innings but West Indies also struggled against Imran Khan, and were kept to 218, a lead of only 87. Pakistan lost both openers with the score on 3 in their second innings and had to do without Qasim Umar too, after he was struck on the face by Courtney Walsh. They folded for 77, their lowest score at home.

England v Australia, Old Trafford, 1888
A three-day Test ended before lunch on the second after Australia were dismissed for 81 and 70. England had the best of the wet conditions, relatively speaking, and they mustered 172 before the pitch dried and batting became immensely difficult. Australia were 32 for 2 in their first innings at the end of the first day but lost 18 wickets before the second afternoon. Bobby Peel took a career best of 7 for 31 to dismiss the visitors for 81 in the first innings. In 1888 the follow-on target was 80 runs and Australia lost their first four batsmen for ducks in the second innings and were eventually dismissed for 70 on a sticky wicket, with Peel taking 4 for 37.

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The second table in this week's List looks at matches in which teams did not secure an innings victory despite having a massive first-innings lead.

West Indies v England, Jamaica, 1930
England's first-innings lead of 563 in this timeless match is the largest to not lead to an innings victory. They could have had one had they decided to enforce the follow on, but Freddie Calthorpe decided to bat again despite having dismissed West Indies for 286 after scoring 849 in the first innings. England scored 272 for 9 in their second innings before declaring, leaving West Indies a target of 836. George Headley led the response with a double-century, and rain prevented play on the eighth and ninth day of the match. By that time the England team was due to leave for home so that was that.

West Indies v Pakistan, Barbados, 1958
Pakistan were in danger of going 0-1 down in the series after collapsing for 106 in their first innings. Imtiaz Ahmed's 20 was the top score, as they conceded a lead of 473 and were asked to follow on on the third day. They needed a special performance in order to save the Test and Hanif Mohammad provided it. He batted for 970 minutes - the longest innings in Tests - shared four century partnerships and was eventually out only on the final day. He had made 337, 28 less than Len Hutton's record for the highest Test score at the time, and ensured that Pakistan were safe.

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