Top 10 shortest Test matches ever played

The Test format is the ultimate format in the beautiful sport of cricket. It’s the oldest and most classic setup with the first official match taking place 145 years back between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne in March 1877. It was also the first-ever international game played with the maiden ODI coming into the picture in the year 1971. Interestingly, it was also contested between the same two sides and also at the same venue.

Picking up 20 wickets is the most important and crucial thing to win a Test encounter. Often, batters get the limelight but actually, the bowlers win the games for their respective teams irrespective of the formats. It becomes vital and essential in the Whites for bowlers to perform and snare scalps in both innings of the match. Bowlers with their quality in extended and lengthier spells throughout the five days of the clash help the team in winning matches. A captain relies heavily on the bowlers in search of those 20 wickets to seal the deal.

Talking about the shortest completed matches (by balls) ever played, Australia’s game with South Africa in Melbourne in the year 1932 tops the chart. The clash got over in just 656 deliveries with the hosts beating the Proteas by an innings and 72 runs. The visitors South Africa batted first and got bundled out for just 36 in 23.2 overs. The Aussies got dismissed for 153 in their first innings in 54.3 overs The rainbow nation suffered yet another collapse as they got all out for 45 in 31.3 overs in the second innings to face an embarrassing loss.

Top Shortest Test Matches Ever Played: (By balls)

The Asian giants, India is the only team to have won the shortest completed match in the top ten in the 21^st century. India’s victory came in just 842 deliveries against the English side in the year 2021 on home soil. The hosts batted first and got dismissed for just 112 in 48.4 overs with spinner Axar Patel wreaking havoc with his spell of 6/38.

The hosts also managed a low score as they got all out for 145 in 53.2 overs. Patel again picked a five-wicket haul while R Ashwin took four wickets to dismiss the tourist for 81 in 30.4 overs. Team India chased down the target of 49 in 7.4 overs to script a ten-wicket victory.

Nowadays, Test cricket has seen changes with quite a few matches getting over in under four days’ time. Notably, the format also saw a new revolution with the introduction of Day/Night affairs with the first ever clash taking place between Australia and New Zealand seven years back in November 2015. Standout performance and outstanding piece of spell from the bowlers force the game to get a result quickly eventually winning matches for the team.