Greatest Tests: Kusal Perera's Durban miracle or Australia's pre-Bazball Bazball?
Which of two results surprised you more: Kusal Perera overcoming the greatest odds in Durban or Australia manufacturing a win out of nothing in Adelaide?
ESPNcricinfo staff
24-May-2025 • 4 hrs ago
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Sri Lanka were coming off a 2-0 pummeling in Australia, their captain had just been sacked, and an inexperienced team, led by Dimuth Karunaratne, reached South Africa.
Then, in what was one of the most dramatic Tests in history, Sri Lanka emerged victorious, chasing down 304 with one wicket to spare. They had lost their ninth wicket while still 78 runs off their target. Kusal Perera then scored 67 of them in an incredible finale on the fourth afternoon along with the No. 11 Vishwa Fernando, as they saw their team home. Towards the end, you knew where this was going, even if it was just a matter of one good delivery.
At lunch on the day, Sri Lanka were 166 for 5, still 138 runs away, after which Keshav Maharaj ripped through the lower-middle order, leaving them at 226 for 9. That brought Vishwa to the middle, and he was entirely focused on survival. He faced 22 balls before he got off the mark.
As Fernando clung on at one end, Perera defended with unreal calm and even took several blows to his body on his way to the target. Batting for 309 minutes, he farmed the strike, and picked his opportunities to attack and push the score forward. Along the way, he also made his career-best Test score of 153*.
The final day of the Adelaide Test of 2006-07 started with 1123 runs already scored, and only 17 wickets having fallen. The ESPNcricinfo report after the fourth day's play was headlined "Draw beckons after Clarke hundred" - Michael Clarke was the fourth century-getter in the Test, after Paul Collingwood, Kevin Pietersen and Ricky Ponting.
But within no time on the fifth morning, Shane Warne had broken through, and 54 overs into the day, England were done for 129.
And Australia had a target: 168. In 36 overs. That meant an "asking rate" of 4.67.
Australia had their own version of Bazball for the job, though.
Matthew Hayden's 18 came off 17 balls. Ponting's 49 off 65. Mike Hussey remained unbeaten on 61 off 66. And Clarke, slow by comparison, scored 21 not out in 39 balls. And it was done. Australia victors by six wickets, with 3.1 overs in the bag, having gone at a scoring rate of 5.11.