When 42 Test wickets fell on a day

If you are the sort of person who likes seeing wickets fall you'd have had a good time watching the cricket on January 28. It was the final day of the Adelaide Test, the fourth of the Abu Dhabi Test and the third of the Napier Test, and bowlers were raising hell everywhere. Australia's attack mopped up the Indian tail, taking 4 for 35 to complete a 4-0 whitewash; England claimed 6 for 89 against Pakistan, after which they imploded for 72; and New Zealand, after losing 2 for 103 and declaring, razed Zimbabwe twice - for 51 and 143. Never before had so many Test wickets - 42 - fallen on a day across the world.

December 28, 1996 was the third day of Boxing Day Tests in Melbourne, Durban and Harare. Forty Test wickets fell on that day. The match at the MCG went no further as West Indies lost their last first-innings wicket for 22 runs, bowled out Australia for 122 in their second innings, and lost four wickets during their successful chase of 87. The Kingsmead Test also hurtled to a finish with South Africa losing 6 for 95 in their second innings and, having set India a target of 395, demolishing them for 66. India had earlier been dismissed for 100 in the first innings. They lasted 73.2 overs in total. In Harare, Zimbabwe collapsed from 110 for 2 to 215, taking a lead of only 59 when they could have got much more. England were 17 for 1 at stumps, and would go on to reach 195 for 3 before rain and a wet outfield ruined the game.

March 21, 1998, which is at No. 4 in the table below because it had 36 wickets, was the first time four Tests were played on a day. India beat Australia at Eden Gardens; South Africa played Sri Lanka at Newlands; Zimbabwe and Pakistan squared off in Harare; and West Indies hosted England at the Rec, in the sixth match of the last six-match series in Test cricket. New Zealand were the only team chilling. They were playing Pakistan in Auckland the next time four Tests happened on a day, on March 11, 2001. India were playing Australia at Eden Gardens again, the start of one of the most memorable of Tests. Four Tests have never been played on a day since.

December 16, 2006 was a pretty action-packed day. It had 36 wickets, the fourth best for a day, and 1039 runs, the second highest number of runs. There were only three Tests played too. The bulk of the runs were scored in Perth, where Adam Gilchrist's 102 off 59 balls helped Australia amass 408 for 4 against England in a day. In Wellington*, it was relatively more balanced between bat and ball, with New Zealand and Sri Lanka scoring 289 runs for 11 wickets. At the Wanderers, however, the bowlers lorded it. India lost their last five first-innings wickets and their first five second-innings wickets for 239, and South Africa were shot out for 84 in between.

In comparison to those wicket-filled days, November 15, 2010 was so dreary. On flat pitches in Hyderabad, Dubai and Galle, a total of 923 runs were scored and only nine wickets fell. New Zealand and India made 273 for 5, Pakistan and South Africa scored 288 for 2, and a Chris Gayle-inspired West Indies made 362 for 2 against Sri Lanka.

The day with the most runs and wickets in ODIs, and the day with the most runs and wickets across formats, is the same - February 4, 2007. There were six one-dayers that day, one in Melbourne, three in Nairobi, one in Harare and one in Centurion. A total of 3119 runs were scored and 88 wickets fell.

*February 1, 2012, 6.50GMT: The New Zealand v Sri Lanka 2006-07 Test was played in Wellington and not Dunedin as was written. This has been corrected