India have beaten England by 10 wickets inside two days in the Pink-Ball test match to knock them out of contention from the finals of the World Test Championship. It was one of the shortest Test matches ever played. They have chased down 49 needed for victory in just 7.4 overs and have taken a 2-1 lead in the series with one Test match still to play. In the process, they have bettered their chance of playing the WTC final against New Zealand at Lord’s in June later this year.
The game finished in well less than two days and just 842 balls were bowled in the match overall. It ranks among the lowest balls bowled in a Test match in the post-war era. This is just the second time that India have managed to wrap up a Test in just two days. They registered an innings and 262 run victory vs Afghanistan in Bengaluru in 2018 also inside two days.
Meanwhile, we take a look at the 3 shortest Test matches ever played
Ind v Eng Ahmedabad 2020/21
Joe Root won the toss and opted to bat first. England were bowled out for a mere 112 in their first innings. India too were bowled out by England by 145 to make a comeback into the Tets match. The Indian spinners picked a total of 18 wickets while the England bowlers picked up nine India wickets in the first innings. Only 842 balls were bowled in the Test match making it one of the shortest ever in terms of balls. 21 wickets out of the 30 fell to spinners.
Aus v Pak Sharjah 2002/03
The second Test between Australia and Pakistan in Sharjah also lasted for just 2 days. Back in the 2002-03 season, the Pakistan batting line-up were bowled out twice for scores of 59 and 53 after Australia posted 310 in their first innings. The likes of Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne were too good for the Pakistani batsmen.
Matthew Hayden’s 119 lifted Australia to 310 in their first innings which was enough for the Men in Yellow to not bat the second time around. This was the another shortest Test match ever played in the history of the format.
Ind v Afg Bengaluru 2018
India’s win over Afghanistan was also another event where the match ended inside two days. In the one-off Test match, India batted first and scored a mammoth 474 with Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay scoring centuries.
After India were bowled out in the first session on day 2, Indian bowlers wrapped up the Afghanistan batting line-up in the next two sessions twice. There were bowled out once in the second session before tea. Then again in the post-team session, the Indian bowlers bowled out their opponents once again to end the game inside two days. It was one of the shortest Test matches ever played.