Greatest Test: Leeds thriller vs a Chennai classic

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The defiance and the despair - Leeds, 2014

A dejected James Anderson on his haunches with the Sri Lanka players all around him delirious became the parting image of the Test and the two-match series. The scorecard of the Leeds Test will say Sri Lanka won by 100 runs, but it was hardly as straightforward. England came into the final day on 57 for 5 with the 350-target a fair distance away. Sri Lanka had the Test and series in sight, but the last five England batters clung on… for all but two balls of the day.

It began with Joe Root and Moeen Ali putting up a defiant 67-run stand off 186 balls for the sixth wicket. The rain also made its presence felt to add to the drama before Root fell to bring Sri Lanka respite. Moeen, however, continued to keep Sri Lanka at bay with crucial partnerships, first with Matt Prior and then Chris Jordan.

But, when Stuart Broad's 24-ball naught ended with Herath trapping him in front, the end seemed nigh. That's when Anderson stepped up. A blockathon followed and along with Mooen, he frustrated the Sri Lanka bowlers, adding 21 off 121 deliveries for the final wicket. Just when it seemed England had done enough for a draw, with two balls left in the day, Shaminda Eranga produced a vicious short-of-a-length ball that Anderson could only fend to backward square leg. Sri Lanka took the Test and series and England were only left with the what-ifs.

Singh is King - Chennai, 2001

It was fitting that a series which had kept the players and spectators on the edge of their seats throughout ended with a last-day thriller. After Matthew Hayden's epic 203 had taken Australia to 391, India responded by racking up 501, with the top-order stepping up.

Like he had in the first innings and the series on the whole, Harbhajan Singh ripped through the Australia middle order in the second innings. The visitors ended day four on 241 for 7, and a lead of 131. On the fifth morning, Harbhajan wasted little time and picked up the last three Australia wickets, bundling them out for 264. He returned second-innings figures of 8 for 84 and match figures of 15 for 127, finishing with 32 wickets for the series. His job was far from done.

Chasing 155 on a fifth-day Chennai surface was never going to be easy. India lost opener Shiv Sunder Das early, but Sadagoppan Ramesh and VVS Laxman added a 58-run stand to give the hosts the advantage. But a middle-order collapse brought Australia right back. India, 101 for 2 at one stage, lost five wickets for 34 runs, which included Laxman falling for a defiant 66.

But wicketkeeper-batter Sameer Dighe, on Test debut, held his cool as he took India closer. India lost Zaheer Khan just four runs shy of a win, but Harbhajan sliced a Jason Gillespie delivery past point to give India a famous Test and series win.