As the second Test match, at Cape Town, is headed for an early finish, here is a look at the shortest decided matches in Test cricket history.
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After bowling out South Africa for 55, India themselves made only 153 (after being 153-4 at one point). South Africa were bowled out for 176 at the stroke of lunch on day two.
India took only 12 overs to chase the target, win their first ever Test match at Newlands, level the series, and secure 12 World Test Championship points.
At 624 balls (107 overs), the 2023/Cape Town Test match between South Africa and India is now the shortest completed Test match in history.
Shortest decided Test matches in terms of overs
642 balls (107 overs): South Africa v India, Cape Town 2023/24
It was on the cards when Mohammed Siraj (6-15) shot out South Africa for 55 in 23.2 overs in the first session of the Test match. India then lost – in spectacular fashion – their last six wickets for no run. Trailing by 98, South Africa did better with 176 against Jasprit Bumrah (6-61), largely due to Aiden Markram’s 106. India won by seven wickets.
656 balls (109.2 overs): Australia v South Africa, Melbourne 1932/33
Australia winning the Test match was not as much of a surprise. However, they won under six hours, that too without Don Bradman (unfit, did not bat) or Clarrie Grimmett (was not needed to bowl). South Africa made only 36 and 45 on either side of Australia’s 153. The wrecker-in-chief was left-arm spinner Bert Ironmonger, then a couple of months shy of his 50th birthday: he claimed 5-6 and 6-18.
672 balls (112 overs): West Indies v England, Bridgetown 1934/35
One of the most famous ‘declaration’ Test matches that were common in the era of uncovered pitches, where both sides would often end their innings to get the other side to bat on sticky wickets. After the West Indies made 102, England declared on 81-7. In two minds between scoring runs and getting England in, the hosts closed at 51-6. Set 73, England lost six wickets before they could pull it off. It did not trouble Wally Hammond (43 and 29 not out), though.
788 balls (197 four-ball overs): England v Australia, Manchester 1888
It rained before the first day’s play. England made 172 and Australia 32-2 on the first day. So far, so good – but then the sun shone brightly, baking the wet surface dry as play went on. Australia were bowled out for 81 and 72 on a gluepot against left-arm spinner Bobby Peel (7-31 and 4-37), who used to thrive in the conditions.
792 balls (198 four-ball overs): England v Australia, Lord’s 1888
A month and a half before Manchester was Lord’s, where 27 wickets fell on the second day – still a world record for most wickets in a single day’s Test cricket. The weather had been bad for weeks, and play began late. England had Australia at 82-9 before the last pair added 34, and England were 18-3 at stumps.
On that incredible second day, England slipped to 26-7 before somehow reaching 53 against the redoubtable Charlie Turner (5-27) and JJ Ferris (3-19). Australia then made 60 as Ferris followed his 14 with 20 not out. Faced with the impossibility of chasing 124, England were in it until 40-year-old WG Grace (24) was around, but then they collapsed from 29-0 to 62 all out against Turner (5-36) and Ferris (5-26).
At 30.1 balls a wicket, the three-match 1888 Ashes has the best bowling strike rate for any series of two or more Tests.
Shortest in the 21st century
624 balls (107 overs): South Africa v India, Cape Town 2023/24
India’s victory in Cape Town inside four and a half sessions has pushed their victory against England in Ahmedabad down to second in this list.
842 balls (140.2 overs): India v England, Ahmedabad 2020/21
Over time, pitches became standardised, but the bowlers fought their ways back towards the second half of the 2010s.
At Ahmedabad, Zak Crawley’s 53 could not push England beyond 112 as Axar Patel (6-38) routed England with the pink SG ball. Rohit Sharma made 66 in response before Joe Root (5-8) restricted India to a 33-run lead. Axar (5-32) and R Ashwin (4-48) then bowled all but four balls of the England innings of 81: India won in a canter.
