International Test Matches Won After Follow On
International Test Matches Won After Follow-On: Cricket is a game of volatility or unpredictability. No one can assure the result till the last ball of the match. And there are many cases where the team which was on the verge of losing the match emerged victorious. Sometimes, a team that is winning the match ends up losing the match. And when it comes to the longest format of Cricket i.e. Test Match, the level of unpredictability or uncertainty increases further. You can’t predict the results till the last ball of the last session of the fifth day in the Test match format.
International Test Matches Won After Follow On. This is the reason why the cricket fans were stuck to their television screens or the ground for the entire five days. In this article, we will discuss something unfeasible or impossible which has been achieved only four times in the history of Test Cricket. But before moving ahead, let’s get to know more about the Follow-On Rule in the Test Cricket format.
What is a Follow-On Rule in Test Cricket?
A case of follow-on appears when the team batting second is 200 or more runs behind the runs scored by the team batting first. In the second innings of the Test Match, the batting team is required to pass the follow-on target which is 200 runs less than the target achieved in the First Innings of the Test Match.
However, if the team batting second fails to cross the Follow-On target, the fielding team may ask the batting team to bat again in the Test Match. In such a case, the batting team will have to first chase down the deficit and then set a target and defend it in the last innings of the Test Match.
List of Test Matches Won After a Follow-On
1. England vs Australia (1894) –
Date – 14 December 1894
Result – England won the match and defeated Australia by 10 runs.
When England toured Australia in 1894 for a 5-test series, England and Australia faced each other for the first test match at Sydney on 14 December 1894, where Australia scored 586 runs on the scoreboard. In reply, England could only score 325 runs, still 261 runs behind the Australian first-innings score.
Then, the Australian captain Jack Blackham planned to impose follow-on. In the second innings, England came back strongly and added 437 runs and thus giving Australia a target of 177 runs. But Australia, who looked better in the first innings, couldn’t manage the bowlers of England and got out for 166 runs. Therefore, England won the Test Match by 10 runs.
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2. England vs Australia (1981)
Date – 16 July 1981
Result – England defeated Australia by 18 runs
In a match between Australia and England in July 1981, Australia declared their first innings by scoring 401 runs for 9 wickets. Australia’s batsman John Dyson scored a century for their team in the first innings. When England came out to bat at number two, their batsmen couldn’t last long and were dismissed for 174 runs, in which Ian Botham scored 50 runs.
Later, Australia forced England to follow on and they scored 356 runs in the second innings. England’s Ian Botham helped their team to reach that level by scoring 149 runs. Australia got the target of 130 runs which was not that huge but the England bowlers specifically Bob Willis put in an incredible performance and took 8 wickets. Australia’s innings collapsed on a score of 111 runs in which their 4 wickets were dismissed without scoring a run. Hence, England won the Test Match by 18 runs.
3. India vs Australia (2001) –
Date – 11 March 2001
Result – India defeated the Australian team by 171 runs.
In 2001, when Australia came to India to play a bilateral series of 3 Test Matches, India and Australia were set to face each other in the 2nd Test on 11 March 2001 in Kolkata. While batting first, Australia started well with 100+ runs for the first wicket partnership and scored 445 runs on the scoreboard.
In response to that, Indian batsmen couldn’t perform well and were dismissed for 171 runs, only VVS Laxman could score 59 runs and no batsmen could stay on the cricket pitch for long. Therefore, Australia forced India to follow on in the Second Innings and then India’s batsmen responded strongly by scoring 657 runs in the second innings.
VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid put on an incredible performance and scored an amazing partnership of 336 runs for the 5th wicket with Laxman contributing 281 runs and Dravid scoring 180 runs. Australia got the target of 384 runs from the Indian team but couldn’t cope with the Indian bowlers easily. Therefore, the Australian team was bowled out for 212 runs and India won the match by 171 runs after playing follow-on.