Test cricket: the enduring images 2
Starring Sachin, Warne, Murali and Lara
West Indies beat Australia by a run in Adelaide in 1993. Australia needed 186 in two days, but Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh took five wickets for 20 runs, and when Justin Langer, who made his debut in the match, was the ninth to fall with 42 needed, a West Indies victory seemed assured. But Tim May and Craig McDermott batted impressively to add another 40 before McDermott edged a short one from Walsh to the keeper•Getty Images
In 1994, one of Ambrose's most devastating spells in Test cricket caused England to be bowled out for 46, their second-lowest total. England had had little more than a day to chase 194 in Port of Spain, but they found themselves at 40 for 8 (from 15 overs). Ambrose trapped Atherton lbw off the first ball, knocked out Alec Stewart's off stump (in photo), had Robin Smith bowled and Graeme Hick caught behind. The match was over 17 minutes into the final day. Ambrose had taken 6 for 24•PA Photos
One of the most engrossing contests in cricket took place on the fourth evening of the 1998 Trent Bridge Test. Allan Donald bowled a vicious bouncer to Mike Atherton, who fended it to the keeper. Donald appealed but Atherton stayed put, as did the umpire. Things got worse when Atherton inside-edged the next ball past his leg stump for four. A furious Donald proceeded to pepper Atherton, and Nasser Hussain, with painful bouncers, one hitting Atherton on the chest. The two batsmen took the battering stoically, and Atherton added the final insult to Donald's metaphorical injury by hitting the winning runs the next day•Clive Mason/Getty Images
Brian Lara was at his masterful best in a one-wicket win over Australia Barbados in 1999. Lara's unbeaten 153, which frequently turns up in greatest innings lists, anchored the 308-run chase, though he had to endure anxious moments at the non-striker's end, watching No. 11 extraordinaire Courtney Walsh bat out an entire McGrath over•Getty Images
One of the greatest Tests of them all - and only the third won by a team who followed on - was played in 2001 in Kolkata, where VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid batted India out of trouble and into a position of dominance - they added 376 and Laxman's 281 was India's highest individual score in Tests. After their efforts Harbhajan Singh, who took a hat-trick in the first innings, ran through Australia to give India a huge win•Hamish Blair/Getty Images
Australia crossed the "final frontier" - as Steve Waugh had nicknamed India - after 35 years with a convincing 2-1 win in 2004-05. India showed none of the magic, or fight, they had in their previous two series against Australia. They lost big in Bangalore and Nagpur, while rain ruined their chances in Chennai, and they only won the dead rubber in Mumbai•Hamish Blair/Getty Images
Never has the first ball of a series been such an emphatic statement of intent - the intent here being to be trampled by the opposition. Steve Harmison bowled the opening delivery of the 2006-07 Ashes to second slip, and England never recovered, conceding the first Ashes whitewash in 86 years•Getty Images
It wasn't quite as monstrous as the 418-run chase, but India's target of 387 in Chennai was definitely daunting. Virender Sehwag's Twenty20-style 83 (off 68 balls) on the fourth evening set it up, after which Tendulkar, with an unbeaten hundred, and Yuvraj Singh (85), took the hosts to a famous victory on the final day. It was an emotional victory for India, and Tendulkar, given that the match had been moved from Mumbai, which had witnessed horrific terrorist attacks less than a month before•AFP
When Muttiah Muralitharan announced that he would retire after the first Test against India in 2010, he needed eight wickets to reach 800. By the end of day three he had only inched to 793, but the fourth day brought 12 Indian wickets, five of them to Murali. On the final day, with India following on, Sri Lanka pushed for a win. When VVS Laxman was run-out with one wicket remaining, many feared the record wasn't to be. But Murali got Pragyan Ojha to nick one to slip and finished with a wicket off his final ball in Test cricket•AFP
Shane Warne's first ball of the 1993 Ashes pitched outside leg and turned back across Mike Gatting to hit off stump. Warne lived up to the promise of that astounding delivery and more, growing to become one of the game's greatest bowlers•Getty Images
Brian Lara broke Garry Sobers' 36-year-record for the highest individual score in Tests by 10 runs when he made 375 in Antigua against England in 1994. Sobers was at the ground to congratulate Lara. Ten years later Lara made the first quadruple-century in Tests•PA Photos
A classic Test match in Chennai ended with a 12-run win for Pakistan, and heartbreak for Sachin Tendulkar and India. The hosts, chasing 271 in little over a day, lost their openers early, but Tendulkar's presence seemed destined to get them over the line. He batted for 405 minutes, fighting a back strain, and when he fell for 136, India needed just 17 with three wickets in hand. But the game was over in the next four overs - Wasim Akram got Anil Kumble and Saqlain Mushtaq took the final two wickets. India's tail added just four more runs to the total after Tendulkar's dismissal•A. Muralidharan/ESPNcricinfo Ltd
The summer of 1999 was particularly horrid for England: they exited the World Cup in the first round, and then lost a series to unfancied New Zealand. On day three at The Oval, after New Zealand slipped to 39 for 6, it had seemed England would clinch the series 2-1. But Chris Cairns' 80 gave the visitors a lead of 245, after which Dion Nash took four wickets, and Daniel Vettori and Shayne O'Connor two each, bowling England out for 162•Getty Images
Nathan Astle hit the fastest double-hundred - in 153 balls -against England in Christchurch in 2002. The task at hand was a target of 550, which actually looked achievable for a brief while during Astle's manic spree, which included 28 fours and 11 sixes. New Zealand eventually lost by 98 runs, though•Ross Land/Getty Images
Yet another narrow loss for Australia. Needing 62 to take a series lead of 2-0 at Edgbaston in 2005, Australia were down to their final wicket. Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz batted heroically, giving the crowd that had turned up to watch a quick finish - England had needed two wickets at the start of the day - a nasty turn. Then, with three to get to win, Kasprowicz gloved a short one from Steve Harmison and watched Geraint Jones dive to catch it down the leg side•Getty Images
Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer chose the perfect moment to bid farewell to Tests - after a 5-0 whitewash of England. Warne took 23 wickets in the five Tests and bowed out with 708 overall; McGrath took 21 to take his career haul to 563; and Langer made 303 runs at 43, finishing up with nearly 7700 Test runs•Getty Images
South Africa chased a record 414 in Perth in 2008, where AB de Villiers made a fighting hundred, and debutant JP Duminy shone with a nerveless half-century. They then won by nine wickets in Melbourne, to seal their first-ever Test series win down under. Duminy's (in picture) sparkling 166 at the MCG was nearly overshadowed by his ninth-wicket partner, Dale Steyn, who scored 76 and took 10 wickets in the match•PA Photos
And finally in our series of Australia's narrow defeats is one in Mohali. India had one day and 17 overs in which to chase 216; by stumps on day four they were 55 for 4, and by lunch the following day another four wickets down and a hundred-odd runs closer, with VVS Laxman and Ishant Sharma at the wicket. With only 11 needed, Ishant fell. Australia sensed an improbable win, but Laxman, fighting back spasms and screaming and shouting instructions to the last man, Pragyan Ojha, and to his runner, Suresh Raina, saw that they completed the win by a wicket•AFP
Another hair's-breadth loss for Australia, this time in Karachi, where Inzamam-ul-Haq was their chief tormentor. On the final day Pakistan needed 159 with seven wickets in hand. Australia's attack hinged on Shane Warne, who responded with five wickets. When he had the No. 9, Waqar Younis, caught behind, Pakistan still needed another 56 runs. But Mushtaq Ahmed and Inzamam hung on like grim death. They needed another three runs when Warne got the ball to sneak between Inzy's bat and pad. Ian Healy, expecting the ball to hit the stump, froze, missed a stumping chance, and watched Pakistan win with four byes•Getty Images
Anil Kumble became only the second Test bowler to take 10 wickets in an innings. On a substandard Kotla pitch, which had been vandalised a month previously, Pakistan were set 420 on day four. Kumble went wicketless in the first session, but after lunch he changed ends and, in 20.3 overs, claimed 10 for 47. India won by 212 runs•Hamish Blair/Getty Images
Graham Thorpe's Chinese cut off Saqlain Mushtaq gave England a famous victory in the Karachi gloom. The match and series had appeared to be gently drifting to sleep, but Pakistan imploded on the final day, and Thorpe (64 not out) was as cool as ever as he nudged, nurdled and coaxed England to their first series victory in Pakistan for 39 years. It was also Pakistan's first defeat in 35 Tests at the National Stadium•Getty Images
West Indies pulled off the biggest chase ever, of 418 runs, against Australia, even after they lost their top three for 74. When Brian Lara fell for 60, a routine collapse looked likely, but Shivnarine Chanderpaul, batting with a broken finger, and Ramnaresh Sarwan, didn't show any nerves during their stand of 123. By the end of day four West Indies needed 47 with four wickets in hand. Vasbert Drakes and Omari Banks completed the incredible win the following day•Hamish Blair/Getty Images
Over about two days' worth of batting at the SSC against South Africa, Kumar Sangakkara (287) and Mahela Jayawardene (374) added a record-breaking 624 runs for the third wicket, the largest partnership in Tests. One of the previous record-holders, Sanath Jayasuriya, who had added 576 with Roshan Mahanama in 1997, was in the team too. South Africa lost the match by an innings and 153 runs•Getty Images
One of cricket's nastiest rows took place in Sydney in 2008, when Andrew Symonds claimed he had been racially abused by Harbhajan Singh during a Test where umpiring errors had already created discord among the teams. The ICC suspended Harbhajan, but reduced the punishment after the BCCI threatened to boycott the tour. In the end, an independent judge appointed by the ICC found Harbhajan not guilty of using a racial slur•Getty Images
Andrew Flintoff took his third career five-for in England's first win in an Ashes Test at Lord's in 75 years. And then in the series winner at The Oval, Flintoff crucially ran out Ricky Ponting for 66. A perennially dodgy right knee forced him to retire after the series•PA Photos