England's remarkable victory in Multan completed 20 Test wins out of 30 matches played in the Bazball era. Here's how they rank from worst to best.
Matches have been judged on the context in which they were played, the unlikeliness of the win, entertainment factor and also Bazballness - generally the creativity and positiveness of the tactics used to get the win.
20. Ireland, Lord's 2023
Another of Ireland's one-off visits to Lord's ended in a 10-wicket win for England. Treated as a warm-up for the Ashes that would follow, it was Josh Tongue's Test debut and the one match Jack Leach played before getting injured for the rest of the summer. Ollie Pope scored a double, Ben Duckett got 182 and England declared on 524 before Tongue took a five-for.
19. West Indies, Lord's 2024
Lord's hosted the bottom three matches on this list, West Indies' recent visit coming second from last. It was a depressing display of West Indies' decline with narrative dominated by it being James Anderson's final Test. Gus Atkinson will have fonder memories of his 7-45 and 5-61 on debut.
18. Sri Lanka, Lord's 2024
Joe Root's twin hundreds took him past Alastair Cook on the England Test centuries chart and Atkinson got on both honours boards in his debut summer, but a 190-run win were almost eclipsed by the sparse crowds at the Home of Cricket on the final morning. Those crowds sum up the match, an England win but little to thrill.
17. West Indies, Edgbaston 2024
The final Test of the West Indies series this summer saw an equally tepid England win. Having bowled West Indies out for 282, Jamie Smith rescued England's reply with 95 off 109 balls. Mark Wood then delivered with an express pace five-for, and Ben Stokes was sent out in place of an injured Zak Crawley as opener to chase down the 82 runs required. He and Ben Duckett did so in 7.2 overs.
16. West Indies, Nottingham 2024
A week earlier, the West Indies were marginally better at Edgbaston, Kavem Hodge frustrated England to get his maiden Test century and West Indies managed a first-innings lead. That was eclipsed by Root and Harry Brook's centuries and Shoaib Bashir's five-for ensured the chase never really got going.
15. South Africa, Manchester 2022
Back to England's debut Bazball summer and the second Test of their series against South Africa. Coming into it reeling off the first defeat of the era, they quickly struck back by bowling South Africa out before tea on day one, before Bens Stokes and Foakes scored centuries. South Africa were then routed by Ollie Robinson and Anderson to finish the match on day three. A dud by 2022 standards, but also a welcome course correction after the previous week's car crash.
14. South Africa, The Oval 2022
The next match of that series was weird, having been delayed by a day following the death of the Queen and then washed out on day two. When play did finally get underway, South Africa were bowled out in 36.2 overs, before England collapsed to 158 all out with a lead of 40. South Africa could only eke out a target of 130 which England chased with one wicket down.
13. Sri Lanka, Manchester 2024
The pick of the England wins in the 2024 summer comes in at No.13. There was genuine jeopardy for England chasing 205 on a surface that was breaking up, when Root came in and guided them home five wickets down. Another wicket would have broken through to Atkinson before the tail, and it took Root to adapt and chase 'normally' at 3.57 runs and over to see them home.
12. New Zealand, Mount Maunganui 2023
Coming off the back of their series win in Pakistan, England were riding high when they reached the New Zealand leg of their first Bazball winter. They set about their business in the day/night Test Mount Maunganui briskly as ever, declaring nine wickets down on 325 just after the Dinner break on day one to bowl under lights. Tom Blundell's hundred saw New Zealand get close to parity, before a collection of contributions meant England set 394 as the target. In the event, Anderson and Stuart Broad took four wickets each under the floodlights to bowl New Zealand out for 126.
11. New Zealand, Lord's 2022
The first Test of the Bazball era rounds out the bottom half of the list. Coming off a miserable winter and a miserable few years, the bowlers duly delivered by dismissing New Zealand for 132 - business as usual. That was before England lost 9-61 and were bowled out for 141 - business as usual. The tables flipped, however, when, after New Zealand set them 277 to win - steep for England at the time - and Joe Root shed the burden of captaincy to hit an unbeaten 115 and guide England home.
10. Pakistan, Karachi 2022
The final Test of the Pakistan 2022 series gets extra points for significance. Never before had England whitewashed Pakistan at home, and it completed what is still the greatest achievement of Bazball to date. It was their least thrilling victory of the tour, Pakistan were well gone by that point, but it still featured a rapid Brook century and a five-wicket-haul on debut for Rehan Ahmed - another bit of Bazball selection madness justified - and a six runs an over chase in the fourth innings. It was a statement of what England had achieved on that particular tour and over the previous six months.
9. Australia, The Oval 2023
For vibes and context, The Oval Ashes Test match last year just pips Karachi 2022. Having come off the back of the Manchester washout and the swirling disappointment and quote headlines, The Oval was chaotic. There was Stuart Broad announcing his retirement halfway through, Brook and Crawley threatening to wake Gilbert Jessop at different points, and Australia resilience threatening to spoil Broad's party on the final day. That's before we get to the bail swapping, the ball changing and Stokes dropping a catch while celebrating and trying to claim it. England won by 49 runs, crucially ensuring they could still stick to their 'what if Manchester' narrative.
8. New Zealand, Leeds 2022
A proper bit of Bazball madness at Headingley. Having conceded 329, England then had a weird first innings where their top four were all dismissed for single figures before Jonny Bairstow continued his ridiculous summer with 162 off 157 balls. At one point, England were 55-6 before Bairstow formed a 241-run partnership with Jamie Overton, who was dismissed for 97. Aside from a 42 from Broad, they were the only three England batters to make it out of single figures in the first innings. Set 296, England chased it three wickets down in 54.2 overs, Bairstow with an unbeaten 71 off 44 balls.
7. Pakistan, Multan 2022
Back in Multan, 2022 edition, England were brought back down to earth when they were bowled out for 281 in less than two sessions on day one. Guile from their bowlers ensured a healthy first-innings lead, however, and yet another Brook century, as well as 79 from Duckett, saw them set Pakistan 355. They very nearly got there, reaching 290-5 before the collapse. In terms of how close it was and the way England's bowlers found a way to win in conditions they had historically struggled in, it doesn't get much better.
6. India, Edgbaston 2022
Winning a Test after conceding a 132-run first innings deficit still is one of the most Bazball things ever to Bazball. Rishabh Pant scored an imperious 111-ball 146 on day one as India met England at their own game. Bairstow responded with another absurd ton of his own, spurred on by a bit of Virat Kohli sledging, but the should have had little prayer of chasing the 378 India set them. Instead, Root and Bairstow got to work after a century opening stand from Crawley and Alex Lees and victory was completed with startling ease. It was England's highest successful chase ever in a Test match, beating Headingley 2019 and after the rest of the India series the year before, it was a marker that things had changed.
5. New Zealand, Nottingham 2022
Another instance of England conceding over 550 runs in the first innings and still finding a way to win. This was the second Test of the first Bazball series, and gets in above the India Test purely for how quickly England's new mindset bore ridiculous results. New Zealand scored 553 in the first innings before Pope and Root scored centuries in the reply. Despite that, England still didn't quite get to parity in the first innings, but bowled New Zealand out for 284 in the second to set up a 299-run chase. Again, for the second match into the new regime after years of toil, 299 looked near-impossible. That was until Bairstow's golden summer began, and he scored 136 off 92 balls, spurred on by a cup of coffee and a ham and cheese toastie at the tea break.
2. Australia, Leeds 2023
The context for the third Ashes Test match of 2023 edges it past some of England's more blistering batting showings. After losing the first two Tests and the madness of the Lord's match, England had to win at Headingley. This Test had everything, Wood bowling what was that point his fastest-ever spell, a run-a-ball Mitch Marsh hundred throwing England off track, some Stokes madness to get them back into it during a collapse, and a chase of 251 led by Brook and finished by Woakes with only three wickets remaining.
3. India, Hyderabad 2024
The only Test England won on their 2024 trip to India was a good one. Given little prayer (rightly) of winning in India where touring teams go to die, and with two inexperienced spinners in their attack they pulled off a remarkable victory to go 1-0 up. Having been bowled out for 246 on day one, India stacked up a 190-run first innings lead as Jack Leach limped off injured. Pope's 196 clawed England back into the game, before Tom Hartley's seven-for on debut completed a nervy win by 28 runs. This gets into the top threebecause of the first innings deficit, and that it was a rare Test win for England in India. Shame they couldn't keep it up.
2. Pakistan, Multan 2024
A simply ridiculous statistical Test takes second place. The 823-7 England scored in their only innings was their highest score in the post-war era. The 454 runs Root and Brook scored together was their highest partnership, the 262 Root scored was his highest Test score, and, oh, Brook made a triple century. It was also the first time a side who scored 500 or more in the first innings lost by over an innings. Again for unlikeliness, and pure audacity, one of Bazball's greatest-ever wins.
1. Pakistan, Rawalpindi 2022
It will take something incredibly special to beat Rawalpindi as Bazball's greatest ever win. It was their first away Test of the era, and first in Pakistan for 17 years. For pure shock-factor, day one of that Test should go down as one of the great days to be an England fan after years of nightmares away from home. Crawley and Duckett - playing his first Test of the era - both threatened to score centuries before Lunch, Pope then came in to score 108 off 104 balls, and Brook scored his maiden hundred in an England shirt when he came in. England scored 506 runs on day one - the most ever scored on the opening day of Test.
In reply to their eventual 657 all out, Pakistan scored 579, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam all with centuries. What followed was England setting up a declaration to perfection, scoring at over seven runs an over to ensure they had enough time to bowl Pakistan out again. They needed it all, taking the final wicket of the match well into the evening session of day five to win by 74 runs. Rawalpindi should be considered pretty much the perfect modern Test match performance.
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