When centuries couldn't prevent defeat

When England were getting hammered by India during the recent one-day series, Kevin Pietersen called upon his batsmen to convert their starts into substantial scores. He wanted more centuries. Well, he got three in the first Test in Chennai, while India had none until the final ball of the match, and England still lost. This week's List is about teams that won matches despite scoring fewer hundreds or half-centuries than the opposition.

Had Sachin Tendulkar not reached his 41st century on Monday, India would have become only the second team to win a Test despite scoring three fewer centuries than their opponents. Instead, they became one of nine winners with two fewer hundreds than the losers.

The only match in which the winning team scored three fewer centuries than their opponents was the Australia-Sri Lanka Test at the SSC in 1992. Ian Healy's 66 was the top score in Australia's 256 in the first innings, after which Asanka Gurusinha, Arjuna Ranatunga and the debutant Romesh Kaluwitharna weighed in with hundreds to give Sri Lanka a lead of 291. There were no centurions in Australia's second innings either, but all 11 players got into double figures, and four batsmen scored half-centuries, to set the hosts a target of 181. There were no fifties in the run-chase, and Sri Lanka collapsed from 127 for 2 to 164 all out.

Winning a Test despite scoring fewer hundreds than the opposition

Team	100	HS	Opposition	100	HS	Diff		Ground	Start Date	Scorecard
Australia	0	68	v Sri Lanka	3	137	-3		Colombo (SSC)	Aug 17, 1992	Test 1194
England	0	94	v Australia	2	143	-2		Lord's	Jun 22, 1896	Test 50
England	2	200	v Australia	4	112	-2		Melbourne	Dec 29, 1928	Test 178
England	0	75	v Australia	2	129	-2		Brisbane	Dec 1, 1978	Test 834
Australia	0	85	v Pakistan	2	134*	-2		Perth	Mar 24, 1979	Test 850
Australia	0	92	v England	2	143	-2		Manchester	Jul 27, 1989	Test 1124
New Zealand	0	89*	v India	2	113	-2		Wellington	Dec 26, 1998	Test 1435
New Zealand	0	72	v West Indies	2	170	-2		Hamilton	Dec 16, 1999	Test 1477
Pakistan	1	114	v England	3	138	-2		Manchester	May 31, 2001	Test 1547
India	1	103*	v England	3	123	-2		Chennai	Dec 11, 2008	Test 1898

There have been only two instances of a team winning despite scoring four fewer 50-plus scores than the opposition, and coincidentally they both involve Australia, South Africa, the Adelaide Oval and double-centuries.

The first was the timeless match in 1932. South Africa had three half-centuries in their first-innings total of 308 but were overwhelmed by Don Bradman's unbeaten 299 and Bill Woodfull's 82. Three more half-centuries helped the visitors wipe out the deficit of 205 but set Australia only 70 to win; a target the hosts achieved with ten wickets intact.

The second time was in 1964, when Australia's batsmen scored four half-centuries in the first innings to reach 345 but were overshadowed by Eddie Barlow and Graeme Pollock, who made 201 and 175 respectively to lead South Africa to 595. Norm O'Neill and Barry Shepherd scored 66 and 78 to help Australia avoid an innings defeat, but South Africa chased the target of 82 with all their wickets in hand.

The two Tests with the largest difference between high scores on opposing sides, in which the team with the lower high score has won, also involve South Africa and Australia. Victor Trumper scored his career-best 214 not out at the Adelaide Oval in 1911, but Australia were beaten by 38 runs even though South Africa's highest score was Billy Zulch's 105. In 1953, Neil Harvey made 205 at the MCG, but South Africa won by six wickets even though their best was John Watkins' 92.

There have been six instances of teams winning one-day internationals despite scoring two hundreds fewer than their opponents, and India have been part of four of them. Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Manjrekar scored centuries to lead India to 287 against South Africa in Delhi in 1991. South Africa's response was strong, and although no one hit a hundred, three batsmen made half-centuries to complete their first victory in one-day internationals

The NatWest series final between England and India in 2002 is third on the list. Marcus Trescothick scored 109 and Nasser Hussen his only ODI hundred, to lead England to 325. India were down and out at 146 for 5, with only Sourav Ganguly having made a half-century, but Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif got together to pull off one of the famous one-day heists.

Winning an ODI despite scoring fewer hundreds than the opposition (excluding adjusted-target matches)

Team	100	HS	Opposition	100	HS	Diff		Ground	Start Date	Scorecard
South Africa	0	90	v India	2	109	-2		New Delhi	Nov 14, 1991	ODI 688
India	0	92	v South Africa	2	115	-2		Kochi	Mar 9, 2000	ODI 1572
India	0	87*	v England	2	115	-2		Lord's	Jul 13, 2002	ODI 1856
Sri Lanka	0	81*	v India	2	103*	-2		Ahmedabad	Nov 6, 2005	ODI 2294
England	0	90*	v West Indies	2	112*	-2		Ahmedabad	Oct 28, 2006	ODI 2439
Kenya	0	66	v Ireland	2	142	-2		Nairobi (Ruaraka)	Feb 2, 2007	ODI 2499

Andy Flower scored 142 off 128 balls and steered Zimbabwe to 261 against England at the Harare Sports Club in 2001. Several England batsmen got starts during their run-chase but Mark Ramprakash's 47 was their highest score. England, however, completed a four-wicket win in the 48th over. The difference between Ramprakash's 47 and Flower's century was the largest between high scores on opposing sides in matches where the team with the lower high score won.