Best innings to save a match (or nearly)

We all tend to remember the destructive innings that took the game away from the opposition and allowed you to dominate the match. Yet often we forget the ones that didn't win the match but at the same time made sure you didn't lose either. Cricket is a wonderful sport where on your day everything clicks and you play out of your skin. But the momentum swinging your way makes life easy and sometimes you are awarded with good luck for taking the initiative.

But if you want a true test of character, what about when the chips are down. Where defeat is whacking you on your head and the pressure is bearing down on you like Asterix´s worst nightmare. When the opposition has plenty of runs in hand and can set aggressive fields. When everyone is so close to the bat, the fielders take turns at sledging like a cynical game of improvisation on Whose Line is it Anyway. This to me is when cricket makes for truly compelling viewing when a batsman or a pair of batsman choose to fight destiny and decide their own fate.

So what innings stand out for you in this regard?

For me, I can´t help but think of Mark Greatbatch´s marathon innings against Australia. Chasing Australia's imposing 521, New Zealand was forced to follow-on early on day four. In extreme heat, a typical bouncy WACA pitch where NZ batsman have often struggled, it needed something special to avoid a heavy defeat. That something came in the form of New Zealand's number three batsman, Mark Greatbatch, who took everything the Australians could throw at him for 485 deliveries in a marathon 655-minute stay at the crease. He ended the match on 146 not out, having almost single-handedly steered New Zealand to a meritorious draw when all seemed lost. Mark Greatbatch was known as a pinch hitter particularly in the one-day scene but that innings showed he had something else which often Kiwi batsman have failed to use: patience, technique and resolve.

So there are plenty of other candidates I can think of and will post in due course. But this one stands out for me in terms of holding up the ideals of cricket. Knuckling down and fighting for your wicket, curbing your natural instinct, using Jedi like powers of concentration and not wilting in the face of pressure.

Sometimes attack can be the best form of defence. Sometimes showing you are a rock on defence and putting up a wall of impenetrability can make the opposition feel that not even explosives could wrest you from the crease. The psychology of cricket is lost on most people not familiar with the game. How can you play for five days and not get a result is beyond most people new to the game. But sometimes a draw can be just as glorious as victory. Sometimes a game is not worth losing and statistics can never tell the excitement and sense of achievement that non-result can sometimes hold.

So your candidates please (by all means more than one).

well the one that sprung to mind immediately was Atherton's innings of 185 not out to defy SA back in 94-95 (I think) where he batted for about five sessions I think. He faced 492 balls and batted over ten hours, including a partnership of four and a half hours with Jack Russell as England, chasing 469 made 351/5 in 165 overs.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63701.html

Well, where to begin? There have been some absolutely marathon efforts, as you rightly put it, across the years, more of which I'm sure will be discussed.

However, as a slight twist, and for a case of the most unlikely batsmen saving a match, how about Monty Panesar and James Anderson batting out somewhere in the region of 15-20 overs (I think) in the Ashes Test at Cardiff in 2009. Jimmy can hold a bat and sometimes plays the role of nightwatchman well, but Monty is renowned for his amateurish batting. How the pair of them survived against a fired up Australian attack I will never know, and that partnership will live long in the memory for salvaging a draw when even the most optimistic of England fans had written us off.

Good article, and I'm looking forward to some of the other suggestions that are put forward.

wasn't quite that much fists, more 11.3 overs or something if memory serves, but still a remarkable effort in the circumstances, and not something you'd usually associate with Panesar (Anderson has made a few contributions to decent partnerships in the past). You could maybe add Colly's knock on the same day to the list.

Ponting's knock at OT in 05, standing up to that magnificent England bowling attack for nearly the whole day is another.

Knew someone would mention something like that Fists. Geoff Allott lasted a world record 101 minutes for his 0. But along with Chris Harris, these two saved NZ from defeat against SA simply because they ate up so much time for their otherwise insignificant 32 runs. Sometimes bunnies can be heroes too!

Another one was Chanderpaul against India with his unbeaten 116. On a 5th day pitch against India´s spinning talents where the pitch was more variable than random.org, it showed great fighting qualities.

Thanks for clearing that up, MFC, maybe it had grown in stature in my own mind! Either way, that many overs against the Aussies is very impressive when you consider who the batsmen were. Good ol' Monty was playing the forward defensive with the same assured look as Rahul Dravid that day!

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Knew someone would mention something like that Fists. Geoff Allott lasted a world record 101 minutes for his 0. But along with Chris Harris, these two saved NZ from defeat against SA simply because they ate up so much time for their otherwise insignificant 32 runs. Sometimes bunnies can be heroes too!

Another one was Chanderpaul against India with his unbeaten 116. On a 5th day pitch against India´s spinning talents where the pitch was more variable than random.org, it showed great fighting qualities.

Wow, that is an incredible amount of time to hold out for, especially without scoring. Thanks for sharing that, just wish I'd have seen it! Love that kind of thing. Thou shalt not pass.

Pietersen at The Oval in 2005 was an innings I'll always remember, everyone was falling around him and he just took the game from the Aussies and won us the Ashes.

Yeah that was a very obvious one that I completely overlooked, Sainty.

The way in which he counter-attacked was superb. The typical innings you would associate with such a position is playing with a straight bat, no risky shots, leaving anything wide. KP, as is his wont, set about the task in a completely different way, hammering Warne for several sixes in an (successful) attempt to unsettle him and not let him build pressure on our batsmen, as he always did so well when given someone to bowl at.

Sure, he rode his luck at times, but that is often a big part of a match winning/saving innings, and he cashed in brilliantly. An innings I'll never forget.

I should also qualify my use of best. Best for you. I´m more interested in getting a list going rather than ranking them as that´s impossible to judge objectively.

As an aside, one of my favourite tail-enders, Ewen Chatfield, was also nearly killed on the cricket field, in a Test match against England in the 1974/5 season. At that time helmets were not in use and English fast bowler Peter Lever decided to test Chatfield with a bouncer. The ball struck Chatfield on the temple, rendering him unconscious. Watching English physiotherapist Bernard Thomas was the first to realise what had happened: Chatfield had swallowed his tongue. He flicked it back into place and managed to revive Chatfield with a heart massage.

Chatfield was also instrumental in a famous victory which doesn't qualify for this post. He accompanied Wellington team mate Jeremy Coney on a partnership to defeat Pakistan in a 1984/85 Test series. It was technically not a last wicket win, as Lance Cairns was still available to bat, but Cairns was severely concussed at the time and essentially incapable of batting, making Chatfield his side's last hope for a series win. Chatfield managed his highest Test score, an unbeaten 21. Such was Coney's faith in his partner that Chatfield ended up facing 84 deliveries during their stand as opposed to Coney's 48. LEGEND in NZ or as the Lemon and Paeroa ad says World Famous in NZ.

I'm racking my brains now, great topic.

Alistair Cook and Jonathan Trott in the first test of the 2010/11 Ashes.

Don't forget, in that first test England were in a bit of trouble, those two (and Strauss for a bit) helped England from a losing position to a ridiculous 517/1!

I'll add Rahul Dravid carrying the bat for India in the summer v England.

Jimmy and Monty at cardiff. gave us the psycholigial edge going to in the rest of the series..

also KP at the oval in 2005, what an innings....(warnie dropped the ashes

Good call on Cook/Trott, Marky, and I'm sure we could come up with a few instances in which 'The Wall' has saved a Test.

A nearly one was Nathan Astle´s 222 from 167 balls against England in 2002. Chris Cains, the last man to come in (he had previously retired hurt), was still injured but came on anyway because Astle made the unthinkable seem a possibility, albeit still a remote one. One of the most aggressive innings I have ever witnessed in the flesh. The price of admission was more than compensated. It deserved a fairytale ending but showed that sometimes being the aggressor can pay dividends. Even though we ended up losing the game and the series I came away from that match feeling fortunate to have been there.

I imagine that would have been superb to have witnessed, kia.

I haven't read any posts but these come to mind.

Atherton's 185no
Tendulkar's 136(ish) vs Pakistan
Gatting's 150 against Pakistan in 1987

When you play drinking games for every boundary he hit, it´s a wonder I can remember being there at all!

Atherton's effort when he batted all week against South Africa to make 185* was the first which came to mind when I read the thread title.

Another rubbish Kiwi batsman Danny Morrison saved a test for them against England in around 98? 96 it turns out, here's the scorecard:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63739.html
Morrison came in with New Zealand just 12 or so runs ahead and survived for nearly 3 hours, adding a hundred with Nathan Astle. Morrison at that time held the record for ducks...

Not a second innings display but special mention to Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama´s partnership of 576. made against India which stood as the biggest partnership in test cricket for almost a decade. Jayasuriya and Mahanama's partnership helped Sri Lanka not only save that test match after India's solid 556/7 dec in the first innings but also score the biggest test match team total 952/6d which is still the largest by any team and only the second over 900 total in test cricket.

You´d have thought they would´ve gone for the 1000 mark.

Ponting's 150 at OT in 2005.

Great knock.

Mike Selig wrote:Atherton's effort when he batted all week against South Africa to make 185* was the first which came to mind when I read the thread title.

Another rubbish Kiwi batsman Danny Morrison saved a test for them against England in around 98? 96 it turns out, here's the scorecard:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63739.html
Morrison came in with New Zealand just 12 or so runs ahead and survived for nearly 3 hours, adding a hundred with Nathan Astle. Morrison at that time held the record for ducks...

well done danny morrison. I think only Chris Martin is worse with the bat lol.

There´s stiff competition amongst the Kiwis for worst batsman and that isn´t necessarily at the tail-end!

Virender Sehwag blasted 150 odd to save India against Australia back in 2008 at the Adelaide Oval. For me it was pretty special as Sehwag played a very responsible innings, when all his star studded buddies kept getting out.

I remember Nathan Astle cracking a double century in an unreal chase 0f 400 plus. Apparently that is the fastest double century in tests. Though NZ lost the match. I am just picking that up from my memory so dont bring out the kinves if facts are not right.

http://www.therock.net.nz/Nathan-Astle-scores-fastest-ever-double-century/tabid/635/articleID/3170/Default.aspx

You chaps have already done most those that occurred to me (Atherton, Greatbatch, Danny Morrison(!) ...

Going back a bit :Lord's 1953 , Bailey and Watson batted most of the last day to deny Australia and help keep the Ashes alive for England's eventual 1-0 victory.
(And no , I didn't see it live - it was a few years before I became aware of the joys of Test cricket )

Another great English rearguard was Dennis Amiss in 1974 - he made 260 odd to save England from defeat at Sabina Park, against some pretty handy West Indian bowling.

Alfie, cracking shout on Amiss. That is an innings that we have completely overlooked and is up there with the best of them.

alfie wrote:You chaps have already done most those that occurred to me (Atherton, Greatbatch, Danny Morrison(!) ...

Going back a bit :Lord's 1953 , Bailey and Watson batted most of the last day to deny Australia and help keep the Ashes alive for England's eventual 1-0 victory.
(And no , I didn't see it live - it was a few years before I became aware of the joys of Test cricket )

Another great English rearguard was Dennis Amiss in 1974 - he made 260 odd to save England from defeat at Sabina Park, against some pretty handy West Indian bowling.

Good shout on Amiss Alfie.

Amiss finished with 262no from 183 overs, and against that bowling attack, it was an amazing innings.

also since it's part of a current debate, the 411 run partnership between May and Cowdrey to draw the test match against the WI was a great rearguard effort.

Some pretty handy bowling in that era is the miosis of the century! Incredible feat against scary bowling. Probably without a helmet either. Those guys were crazy!

I mentioned that one earlier wow but cheers for the vid.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:also since it's part of a current debate, the 411 run partnership between May and Cowdrey to draw the test match against the WI was a great rearguard effort.

Yep. At the other extreme, Cowdrey gets another mention - 6 years after his 411 partnership with May, he came out to bat at number eleven with his broken wrist in plaster in another Windies test. Fortunately, a draw was achieved without him needing to face a ball. However, if he hadn't come out to bat, England would have lost.

Atherton against South Africa in 94, Ponting against England in 05, Pietersen against Australia in 05, Gambhir against NZ in 09, Kallis against India early this year are some of the terific match saving efforts that readily come to mind.
Sachin's 136 and Nathan Astle's 221 almost won the match. Hashim Amla's effort at Kolkata almost saved the match for SA against India.

One of the gutsiest innings I can remember is that of Dean Jones' epic 210 (330 balls, 502 minutes) during the tied Test at Madras in 1986-7. Probably one of the greatest batting performances for Australia - ever.

If I recall correctly - he said recently that back in those days there was "none of this energy drink stuff"... so when the first signs of dehydration and heat exhaustion appeared and he started becoming ill in between overs (sometimes in between balls) he was given soft drinks which made him vomit even more... not to mention being violently ill from other parts of his body too. He was on a saline drip for a couple of days in hospital afterwards too.

Good examples, linebreaker/msp. There really have been some epic innings.

What about these knocks from AB.

http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1980S/1983-84/AUS_IN_WI/AUS_WI_T2_16-21MAR1984.html

Very stout resistance in the face of fearsome bowling.

A century containing three 4's, now that's a rarity.

And a first innings 98no.

A man of the match performance if there ever was one.

Absolutely, the only line of defence for Australia in that match, it'd seem.

Thinking of Aussie captain's who dug in for their country.
Steve Waugh played a few of those knocks but I suspect a few of those would have been in winning matches.

the cardiff game, monty and jimmy for saving a game, fantastic stuff. Also onions in south africa.

Bailey/Watson, May/Cowdrey, the Atherton 185 - all good examples. Some might remember an innings by a young Trescothick batting for Somerset Seconds a few years back when he made more than 300 and Somerset almost won chasing over 600, if I'm correct.

Had forgotten about Onions in SA, cf. Good shout and well worthy of a mention.

From memory Atherton's 185 no v south africa.

Seem to remember hussain batting for a long time to save a match once, but can't remember the opposition or when it was, think it might have been during his reign as captain.