10 most iconic match-saving partnerships in Tests

#8 Willie Watson and Trevor Bailey vs Australia at Lord’s, 1953

Watson and Bailey produced a stellar performance to save the match for England

The first Test of the 1953 Ashes at Trent Bridge ended in a draw and the second Test was played at Lord’s. Australia batted first and put up 346 in their first innings thanks to a century from 40-year-old skipper Lindsay Hassett and fifties from Neil Harvey and Alan Davidson.

In reply, England scored 372 thanks to Len Hutton’s 145 and fifties from Tom Graveney and Denis Compton. In the second innings, Australia scored 368 thanks to Keith Miller’s 109 and Arthur Morris’ 89. England were given a target of 343.

However, they got off to a disastrous start as they lost skipper Len Hutton, Don Kenyon, and Tom Graveney for single figure scores. Willie Watson and Compton put up 61 for the fourth wicket but that partnership was broken by Bill Johnston who dismissed the latter for 33.

Australia were in deep trouble but their innings was rescued by Watson who was joined by Trevor Bailey. They batted calmly for over four hours, adding 163 for the fifth wicket and by the time Watson was dismissed by Doug Ring for 109, less than an hour's play was left.

Bailey was eventually dismissed for 71 by Ring with only 40 minutes left but England managed to survive, ending with 282/7.

#7 Martin Crowe and Andrew Jones vs Sri Lanka at Wellington, 1991

Crowe and Jones set the record for the then highest partnership in Test Cricket

This partnership was scripted at the Basin Reserve in Wellington and is undoubtedly the most iconic partnership at the ground.

It was the first Test of Sri Lanka’s tour of New Zealand in 1991. Sri Lanka won the toss and skipper Arjuna Ranatunga sent in the hosts to bat first. Some terrific bowling from Rumesh Ratnayake and Graeme Labrooy (both took 4 wickets each) limited the Kiwis to only 174 in their first innings.

In reply, a massive 267 from Aravinda de Silva assisted by fifties from Asanka Gurusinha (70) and Arjuna Ranatunga (55) took the visitors to 497 and a lead of 323 runs.

New Zealand were in a decent position in their second innings with John Wright scoring 88 and putting on a 134-run opening stand with Trevor Franklin. However, Champaka Ramanayake dismissed both openers meaning the hosts had two new and unsettled batsmen at the crease in skipper Martin Crowe and Andrew Jones. Still trailing by 175 runs, they needed something special to save the match.

They got just that as Crowe and Jones stitched what continues to be New Zealand’s highest Test partnership of 467 from 924 deliveries, lasting more than nine hours. Both batsmen batted with a lot of composure and New Zealand were assured of a draw by the time the partnership was broken by Ranatunga, who dismissed Jones for a career-best 186 from 454 deliveries.

The match ended in the most agonizing manner for Crowe as he was dismissed for 299 by Ranatunga on the final ball. Crowe may have missed out on his triple century but his mammoth effort along with his partnership with Jones helped New Zealand draw a match that they looked like losing for the most part.