Greatest Test: Giles' great survival act in Galle vs Dravid's Adelaide conquest
Which one would you pick: a great stonewalling effort against Muralitharan on a fifth-day Galle pitch or a display of supreme Test-match batsmanship in a hostile environment?
ESPNcricinfo staff
10-May-2025 • 3 hrs ago
In the lead-up to the WTC final between Australia and South Africa at Lord's from June 11, ESPNcricinfo, Star Sports and JioHotstar are inviting you to help us pick the greatest Test of the 21st century. There are 32 contenders, with two Tests pitted against each other until we identify the winner. Get voting now!
A fifth-day Galle pitch. England with all ten wickets in hand, but the target of 323 perhaps too steep, especially with Muthiah Muralidaran across the 22 yards, not to mention Upul Chandana, Kumar Dharmasena and Sanath Jayasuriya. And before even getting to them, captain Michael Vaughan was dismissed by Dinusha Fernando.
Then Murali & Co came on, and after a 46-run stand for the second wicket between Marcus Trescothick and Mark Butcher, England started to unravel. All the way to 170 for 7. There was time that day for 107 overs to be bowled (and four overs to not be bowled because of bad light at the close) and the spinners bowled 90 of those.
But England survived the remaining 32 overs. Somehow. Thanks in the main to Ashley Giles, with no little support from Gareth Batty, their own spin twins, up against Sri Lanka's quartet, with bat in hand. They stonewalled for 16.1 overs before Batty threw it away trying to send Muralidaran out of the ground.
The light was fading, and Giles found an ally in Richard Johnson, who batted out 35 balls before losing his stumps to Muralidaran off the 36th. Nine down, and still there was time to go. Finally, after Giles had survived 107 balls of spin-bowling masterclass and last man Matthew Hoggard seven, light was offered, and the two scampered off, having pulled off a draw to be proud of.
It was Kolkata 2001 all over again, except the support act took over the lead role this time.
Instead of 445, Australia scored 556 batting first here, with Ricky Ponting hitting 242 at a strike rate of 68.75. But unlike their 171 in Kolkata, India scored 523, keeping the match on an even keel, more or less, and it was the Rahul Dravid-VVS Laxman partnership for the fifth wicket, worth 303 runs, that made it possible. Here, Dravid scored 233 from No. 3, and Laxman 148 from No. 6.
Like in Kolkata, Australia's second innings was a letdown; all they got was 196, setting India 230 to win, and the star of the show, which gave India the upper hand, was Ajit Agarkar, whose 6 for 41 thwarted Australia as they were looking to put the game beyond India.
Dravid had scored that many in the first innings alone, but this time he only had to make 72, hitting the winning runs when he cut Stuart MacGill through the off-side infield. It remains one of India's great victories in Australia, achieved at a time when they didn't come as thick and fast as they do now.