5 most successful 250-plus run chases in Test cricket since 2016

Surviving and scoring runs in the fourth innings is a question of skill. Teams have found it extremely difficult to chase targets of 250 and above in Test cricket in the last 3 years or so. In fact, since the year 2016, a target of 250 has been chased only on 5 occasions. The deteriorating nature of the pitches and the lack of technique of the cricketers to survive on days 4 and 5 are a couple of factors.

Sri Lanka (ranked 6 in the Test rankings), West Indies (ranked 8) and England (ranked 4) are the only three teams to chase 250 plus targets successfully in the last 3 years. While England and the West Indies achieved the feat once, Sri Lanka have made a habit out of it by achieving this feat on 3 separate occasions.

Here is a look at the 5 successful 250 plus run chases in Test cricket in the last 3 years.

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#1 Sri Lanka chase a record target against Zimbabwe: One-off Test, Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe, Colombo (2017)

Sri Lanka chased a target of 387 against Zimbabwe in 2017 in Colombo

Zimbabwe stunned Sri Lanka by winning the 5 match ODI series on Sri Lanka's home turf in 2017 by a margin of 3-2. Thereafter, Zimbabwe played a solitary Test against the Islanders.

Batting firs,t Zimbabwe scored an impressive 356 in their first innings with Craig Ervine scoring an impressive 160. Rangana Herath impressed with the ball by picking up 5 wickets in 32 overs. The visitors impressed with the ball and bowled out the hosts for 346 with Upul Tharanga top-scoring for the hosts with 71 runs. Graeme Cremer, the Zimbabwe skipper took 5 wickets and was the pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers.

The visitors were reduced to 24 for 4 and then 59 for 5 in their second innings as the hosts were running through the Zimbabwe batting line up. However, the last 5 Zimbabwe wickets added 318 runs with Sikandar Raza contributing 127, Peter Moor 40, Malcolm Waller 68 and skipper Cremer 48. The hosts were stunned by the resistance shown by the lower half of the Zimbabwe batting order and were left to chase a target of 387.

A target of 387 in the fourth innings was never going to be easy but the hosts negotiated the Zimbabwe spinners with vital contributions from Kusal Mendis (66), Dickwella (81) and Gunaratne (80*) as Sri Lanka won by 6 wickets.

Sri Lanka achieved their highest ever run chase but Zimbabwe did give the hosts a run for their money!

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#2 Shai Hope stuns England: England vs West Indies, Headingley (2017)

Shai Hope scored twin centuries in the Headingley Test and led West Indies to a win

England thrashed West Indies by a margin of an innings and 186 runs at Edgbaston in the first Test of the three-match Test series in 2017 and the second Test at Headingley was supposed to be a cake walk for the hosts. However, Shai Hope scored a century in each of the innings and guided West Indies to an improbable win in the Test.

The hosts were bundled out for a below-par total of 258 in their first innings with Shannon Gabriel picking up 4 wickets. Ben Stokes scored an impressive 100. In reply, the West Indies put on a 427 in their first innings with centuries from Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope. While Brathwaite scored 134, Hope top-scored the innings with 147. West Indies had a lead of 169 in their first innings and things looked positive for the visitors.

England piled on the runs in the third innings of the Test and declared on the score of 490 for the loss of 8 wickets. Joe Root, David Malan, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes all scored half-centuries and left the visitors with a target of 321.

Shai Hope scored an unbeaten 118 in the fourth innings and added 144 runs with Kraigg Brathwaite to lead West Indies to an impressive win. The hosts were beaten by 5 wickets and Shai Hope was named the Man of the Match for the twin centuries. A strong English bowling unit comprising of Anderson, Broad, Woakes, Stokes and Ali were highly ineffective against Hope.

#3 Kusal Perera's heroics leads Sri Lanka to victory: South Africa vs Sri Lanka, Durban (2019)

Kusal Perera scored a brilliant 153 in the fourth innings at Durban

Sri Lanka were thrashed by England at home while they lost to Australia and New Zealand away from home. Not many gave them a chance to succeed in the 2-match Test series against South Africa in South Africa.

Sri Lanka in 13 Tests in South Africa had lost 11, won 1 and drawn 1. No Asian team had won a Test series in South Africa.

The first Test at Durban was completely dominated by the hosts until Kusal Perera played a match-winning innings in the fourth innings. The hosts put on 235 on a difficult batting wicket in the first innings and bundled out the visitors for a total of 191. Skipper Faf du Plessis scored an impressive 90 in third innings of the Test as Sri Lanka were left to chase a target of 303 in the fourth innings.

Sri Lanka were reduced to 226 for the loss of 9 wickets when Kusal Perera took charge and started a counter-attack. The last wicket partnership of 78 had Perera taking control of the innings with the number 11 Fernando scoring just 6 runs.

Perera scored an unbeaten 153 which included 12 boundaries and 5 sixes. The strong South African bowling unit comprising of Steyn, Philander, Rabada, Olivier and Maharaj tried all tricks against the aggressive Sri Lankan batsman but were unsuccessful. Perera guided Sri Lanka to a target of 304 almost single-handedly.

Sri Lanka went on to win the second Test in Port Elizabeth too and won the 2 match Test series by a margin of 2-0 and became the first Asian team to beat South Africa in South Africa in a Test series.

#4 Dimuth Karunaratne leads Sri Lanka to another successful run chase: Sri Lanka vs New Zealand, Galle (2019)

Karunaratne led Sri Lanka to a successful chase in the Galle Test

The ongoing Test series between New Zealand and Sri Lanka witnessed the hosts chasing another 250 plus score in the fourth innings of a Test. Sri Lanka were chasing a target of 268 in the fourth innings of the first Test of the 2-match Test series at Galle.

The first wicket partnership between skipper Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne yielded 164 runs. After the dismissal of Thirimanne for 64, the skipper continued his impressive showing with the bat and scored a brilliant match-winning innings of 122 as Sri Lanka chased down the target with ease with 6 wickets in hand.

Earlier in the Test, the visitors scored 249 in their first innings before bowling out the hosts for 267. The visitors scored 285 in their third innings with keeper-batsman BJ Watling scoring an impressive 77 and William Somerville scoring an unbeaten 40.

The target of 268 was expected to be a tough one to chase for the hosts, considering the spin trio of New Zealand. However, the target was chased with ease and Sri Lanka opened their campaign of the World Test Championship with a win.

#5 Ben Stokes is once again the hero for England: England vs Australia, The Ashes, Headingley (2019)

Ben Stokes single-handedly guided England to a famous win in Headingley in the fourth innings

The hero of the 2019 World Cup final did it once again for England. Chasing 359 at Headingley in the third Ashes Test, England were reduced to 286 for the loss of 9 wickets with Jack Leach, the number 11 joining Ben Stokes. The arrival of Leach gave Stokes the liberty to bat with freedom and Stokes added 76 for the last wicket with Leach to guide England to a famous 1-wicket win and level the 2019 Ashes 1-1. Leach contributed 1 off 17 balls and resisted the bowling of Pattinson, Hazlewood, Lyon and Cummins. Stokes stole the show with a brilliant unbeaten 135 which included 11 boundaries and 8 sixes.

The win is indeed a memorable one for the English team as they were bundled out for a paltry total of 67 in their first innings after Australia themselves put up a below-par score of 179. In the second innings, Australia managed to get to 259 to leave England with a target of 359.

In chase, Ben Stokes once again put his hands up for England as he put together 89 runs with Bairstow and then batted well with the tail. Interestingly, Headingley features in twice in the list of top 5 successful 300-plus run chases in the last 3 years.