Greatest Matches of All Time

[BlueString]

We've all had those times where we've sat in front of the TV, watching a grueling test match, an intense ODI, or a dazzling T-20, and we just get this feeling, kind of hard to place, that what we're watching is cricket in its truest, most examplary form.

So, I'm curious. What matches (Test or ODI, maybe even T-20) you guys think are the best ones you've watched?

Personally, since I started watching cricket, there are two that are really up there. Of course, there's the 2001 Indian victory over Australia at Eden Gardens, where the heroics of Dravid and Laxman in their prime in front of a roaring crowd revived Indian Test Cricket.

Then again, there's the 2003 Adelaide test, India vs. Australia, when Dravid and Laxman once again came back to win the game. The 07/08 Sydney Test, for what it's worth, was definitely action-packed.

Maybe all of them are eclipsed by the Ashes victory by England over Australia in '05.

What do you guys think?

 

[War]

For me since i started watching cricket in the 97 Ashes:

1. IND vs AUS Kolkatta 2001
2. WI vs AUS - Bridgetown 1999
3. IND vs PAK - Chennai 1999
4. AUS vs ENG - Edgbaston 2005
5. ENG vs WI - Lords 2000
6. AUS vs PAK - Hobart 1999
7. ENG vs SA - Leeds 1998
8. AUS vs SRI - Kandy 2004
9. SA vs SRI - Colomb 2006
10. AUS vs SA - Capetown
11. AUS vs WI - Antigua 2003
12. AUS vs SRI - Galle 2004
13. IND vs AUS - Chennai 2001
14. ENG vs PAK - Multan 2005
15. AUS vs SA - Jo'Brug 2006
16. IND vs AUS - Nagpur 2010
17. BANG vs AUS - Fatullah 2006
18. ENG vs SRI - Kandy 2001
19. ENG vs PAK - Karachi 2000

Thats all that comes to mind now. I probably am missing a exciting test somewhere...

 

[6ry4nj]

Believe it or not, the one I remember best was a Test between Pakistan and Australia in 1976/7. I think Zaheer Abbas got a century in the first dig, then Asif Iqbal (150+) and Iqbal Qasim (is that right?) got them home for a draw with 9 down.

I haven't researched this because I'm posting about what I remember and that would defeat the point. So I apologize if I've got any of these few details wrong.

You'd think there'd be a recent Ashes game I remembered, but there isn't. Frankly I missed most of them.

EDIT: okay I looked it up and completely wrong. I think I'm combining my memories of the three-Test series. I remembered it as the second innings and a draw, whereas it was to get them a match-winning first innings lead. Zaheer Abbas' century must have been an earlier game.

 

[BlueString]

You'd think there'd be a recent Ashes game I remembered, but there isn't. Frankly I missed most of them.
.

Luckily I didn't really watch cricket back when the Ashes were really one-sided. It's a lot more of a contest now though. Hell, England is probably even the better team now.

 

[sami ullah khan]

Pakistan VS India Chennai 1999-2000. India needed 20 or so to win with four wickets in hand one of which was an injured Tendulkar batting on 136 or something. Waseem and Saqlain turned the game on its head in a couple of overs. Another great match I remember watching is India VS Australia where India were following on but still won the match thanks to brilliant innings by Laxman and Dravid. 2005 Ashes test was also brilliant. I am talking about the one where Kasprowicz and Lee failed to secure a fantastic win for Aussies.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Australia. South Africa. ODI. 436.


Quite a lot of thrilling IPL and T20 matches were great to watch.


Ishant/VVS just recently was brilliant. Lot of the 2005 Ashes. Unfortunately I never got to see the Dravid/VVS heist live, but that is one of the best matches of all time, along with the tied tests.

That 1999 WC tied semi final between RSA and Aus was pretty epic too. Got to watch a whole 40 minutes highlight package of it and it was brilliant.

Oh, and last ball six loss to Miandad. I had heard of that match, and one day I randomly sat down to watch highlights of an old India/Pak match. It was turning to be an epic. But when Chetan Sharma started bowling the last over to Miandad I was like 'Wait...it can't be that match...'

With 6 needed off the last ball and Miandad on strike, my heart sank.

And then he hit it.

Gutted. But great match.

 

[pcfan123]

I really liked the recent Test series between NZ and Pak. Bond taking 10 on his comeback and final Test and Asif taking 10 in the next one. Teams were pretty evenly matched whole series.

 

[sami ullah khan]

^Expect the same this series except there will be no bond and Asif. Both teams are struggling. Newzealand lack quality and Pakistan are under the match fixing hammer atm.

 

[used2bcool]

The second and third match of the 2005 Ashes were amazing. I know people go gaga over Edgbaston, but the following match where Ponting almost single-handedly got a draw with a 156 in the second innings was equally epic.

I was in the States for both the Laxman/Dravid acts against Australia, but from highlights, those matches are epic. So is the India v Australia match from the 1992 world cup. From a biased point of view, Perth in 2006 was excellent as well.

I remember India/South Africa at Ahmedabad in 1996 or so - we went into the last innings with South Africa chasing a paltry target. I went to school thinking the game was up, only to return home and find out that Srinath had cleaned up the Saffers. Highlights were worth the wait.

The last test of the 2004 Border-Gavaskar trophy remains a favorite. It was such a dustbowl at the Wankhede that the match was done in 3 days. The highest score either side managed was 205 and Australia were wiped out for 93 chasing 107 in the last innings. It was a dead rubber but still so much fun.

Btw, War, you got one detail wrong: Ishant/VVS was at Mohali 2010 and not Nagpur. I knew something was wrong with that.

 

[icyman]

1. India v Pakistan, Independence Cup Final
Hrishikesh Kanitkar's famous boundary off the penultimate delivery. Those days, chasing down a target of 315 was considered to be really stiff. I had actually switched off the TV and had gone to watch the movie Titanic.

2. India v Australia, 2nd Test Eden Gardens 2001
Has to be one the greatest matches of all times. Not cause it was an Indian display, cause of the fact that we had stopped the World Champs in their tracks after their 16 consecutive victories.

3. World Cup semi-final 1996
Shane Warne took on the WI and single-handedly spun the Aussies to victory. At a time when people thought that the Windies would run off to yet another WC final, this was a great match.

4. World Cup semi-final 1999
Heartbreak for RSA again as they were denied a golden opportunity to meet Pakistan in the final.

5. Australia v South Africa, Jo'burg 434 chase
I think this has a place on everybody's list

 

[ferg512]

2005 Ashes. Strangely the test I enjoyed most of them was the one at Trent Bridge where England were chasing 130 and the aussies had them like 110-7 but then Hoggard and Giles won it. That was some of the best bowling I had seen from Lee and Warnie was superb I'm pretty sure he came on in like the 5th over and got a wicket first ball.

 

[Haarithan]

Tests :

1. England vs Australia @ Edgbaston 2005 Ashes
2. England vs Australia @ Old Trafford 2005 Ashes
3. England vs Australia @ Trent Bridge 2005 Ashes
4. Australia vs England @ Adelaide 2006 Ashes
5. India vs England @ Chennai 2008
6. RSA vs England @ Centurion 2009
7. RSA vs England @ Cape Town 2009
8. India vs Australia @ Nagpur 2010
9. Australia vs India @ Adelaide 2002
10. Australia vs India @ Sydney 2007
11. Australia vs RSA @ Sydney 2008
12. Australia vs Pakistan @ Sydney 2009
13. West Indies vs England 2nd test @ 2009 (cant remember the venue)
14. England vs Australia @ Cardiff 2009
15. Australia vs RSA @ Perth @ 2008

ODIs :

1. Almost the entire ODI series of the recently concluded Pakistan-RSA series @ UAE was a treat to watch. Especially ODIs 2,3,4.
2. RSA vs Australia @ Johannesburg 2006
3. Australia vs Sri lanka @ MCG 2010
4. India vs Australia @ Hyderabad 2009
5. England vs Australia @ Old Trafford 2010
6. Bangladesh vs England @ Dhaka 2010 (2nd ODI)
7. RSA vs Sri Lanka @ ICC WC 2007 Super 8's
8. West Indies vs Sri Lanka @ 2008 (Windies needed 10 of 2 and made it)
9. England vs West Indies @ Lord's 2004 (CT Finals)
10. West Indies vs Australia 5th ODI @ 2008 (Aussies snatched it by a run)

T20s:

1. India vs Pakistan both encounters at t20 WC 2007
2. RSA vs England 1st t20 @ 2009 (England won by 1 run on D/L)
3. Australia vs Pakistan @ t20 WC 2010 Semi Finals
4. Sri Lanka vs India @ t20 WC 2010 Super 8's
5. England vs Holland @ Lord's (ICC World t20 2009)


These come to mind as of now . Definitely would have missed atleast a dozen of nail-biting encounters .

 

[sifter132]

That 1999 WC tied semi final between RSA and Aus was pretty epic too. Got to watch a whole 40 minutes highlight package of it and it was brilliant.

I think this was the first match I saw that I just couldn't sit down during it - just pure adrenaline running through the body, even though it finished around 1 or 2am here in Aus, I couldn't sleep for another hour or 2. I only have the last 10 overs on tape, and it's probably a tape I have watched maybe 50 times. Pure awesomeness.

2005 Ashes. Strangely the test I enjoyed most of them was the one at Trent Bridge where England were chasing 130 and the aussies had them like 110-7 but then Hoggard and Giles won it. That was some of the best bowling I had seen from Lee and Warnie was superb I'm pretty sure he came on in like the 5th over and got a wicket first ball.

A fantastic series - my favourite even though Australia lost. Was just epic cricket, good quality and constantly seesawing between both sides (ok well England mostly, but Australia certainly had their moments). Wish McGrath had been fit for more of it...


My favourite recent match was the SCG Test of 2008/09 when Graeme Smith came out to bat with a broken hand and he and Ntini almost got through for a draw before Mitch J bowled Smith off a crack. It was just great theatre: the constant speculation of whether Smith would bat, the footage of him in the dressing room preparing, and then the standing ovation he got from the Aussie crowd when he came out to bat, then the unbearable tension and he and Ntini inched closer to a draw every ball.

 

[BlueString]

I think this was the first match I saw that I just couldn't sit down during it - just pure adrenaline running through the body, even though it finished around 1 or 2am here in Aus, I couldn't sleep for another hour or 2. I only have the last 10 overs on tape, and it's probably a tape I have watched maybe 50 times. Pure awesomeness.

Agreed. I was too young to remember that match, but 99' was the only World Cup out of the last three that I'm glad Australia won. You can't beat Waugh, McGrath, Gilchrist, Warne, and everyone on that team at their best and playing their best.

The Perth test when India beat Australia wasn't really a close or thrilling match (well, maybe it was, but for the wrong reasons) but from an Indian perspective, that match was great. From an Australian perspective, I can imagine the 08 Sydney game must have been cricket ecstacy .

I still can't get over the Eden Gardens 2001 Test though. I've never seen a crowd like that at a Test match. I've never seen a comeback like that ever. And I've never seen such a big upset in a Test match ever (at that time, India were NOT doing well).

 

[Gunner786]

the 1 i remember most fondly is the karachi 2004 odi between pak and india.


non stop action and tension all the way through