5 heart-breaking Test matches over the last 20 years

There have been many close cricket matches. But there are certain matches which have produced heart-breaking results. Here is the list of Test matches that have broken the hearts of lots of fans.

#5 Australia vs India, Sydney, 2008

Result : Australia won by 122 runs.

Australia won the toss and chose to bat.

Australia 1st Innings : 463 (Symonds 162, Kumble 4/106)India 1st Innings : 532 (Sachin 154*, Lee 5/119)Australia 2nd Innings : 401/7 dec (Hussey 145*, Kumble 4/148)India 2nd Innings : 210 (Ganguly 51, Clarke 3/5)

This match is well-known for its controversies. India lost the match, but it only due to poor umpiring decisions. India could have easily won the Test match if not for those bad decisions. In the first innings, Symonds had three reprieves on his way to 162 not out. That helped Australia’s score to 562.

India fought back hard and took a lead of 69 runs. Australia set India a target of 333 runs in their 2nd innings. India were at the receiving end once again in the second innings with Dravid and Ganguly adjudged out wrongly.These bad decisions cost India the match. India lost the match with just more than 15 minutes remaining. Had those umpiring errors been avoided, India would have probably won the Test match and created history by winning the Test series. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.

#4 England vs Sri Lanka, Leeds, 2014

Result : Sri Lanka won by 100 runs.

England won the toss and chose to field.

Sri Lanka 1st Innings : 257 (Sangakkara 79, Plunkett 5/64)England 1st Innings : 365 (Robson 127, Mathews 4/44)Sri Lanka 2nd Innings : 457 (Mathews 160, Plunkett 4/112)England 2nd Innings : 249 (M Ali 108, D Prasad 5/50)

Sri Lanka were on the backfoot at the end of the first innings as they had conceded a lead of more than 100. They played extremely well on a very placid pitch on days 3 and 4 with theircCaptain Angelo Mathews leading from the front. England were set a steep target of 350 to be achieved in less than 4 sessions.

England, as they have been doing all through the season, collapsed and were reduced to 82 for 5 at the end of day's play. When everyone thought game was well and truly over, Moeen Ali played a superb innings with no support at the other end.

With more than 20 overs remaining, England had one wicket in hand. Anderson supported Moeen Ali with 0 (54). They nearly played it out to script an outstanding come back, but that was not to be. Anderson was caught with just two balls remaining.

Emotions ran high in both the dressing rooms and Anderson was seen crying during the presentation. Both Moeen Ali’s century and Anderson’s innings were in vain.

#3 England vs Australia, Birmingham,2005

Result : England won by 2 runs.

Australia won the toss and chose to field.

England 1st Innings : 407 (Trescothick 90, Warne 4/116)Australia 1st Innings : 308 (Langer 82, Flintoff 3/52)England 2nd Innings : 182 (Flintoff 73, Warne 6/46)Australia 2nd Innings : 279 (Lee 43, Flintoff 4/79)

The image above depicts the emotions. It was a topsy-turvy match, one of the best Tests ever witnessed. England were well placed at the end of the first innings with a lead of nearly hundred. An inspired bowling effort from Shane Warne brought the Aussies back into the match. They bowled out the English for a paltry score of 182. The target was 282.

England showed some grit and reduced Australia to 175/8 at the end of Day 3. With 107 required and not much batting to come, many had written off Australia. They fought hard with Lee and Warne and latter got out with the score at 220. Australia nearly pulled off an incredible win but for Kasprowicz getting out to Harmison with 3 runs required to win. The way Australia batted on the third day, everyone would have wanted an Australian win.

#2 Australia vs South Africa, Sydney, 2009

Result : Australia won by 103 runs.

Australia won the toss and chose to bat

Australia 1st Innings : 445 (M Clarke 138, P Harris 3/84)South Africa 1st Innings : 327 (M Boucher 89, P Siddle 5/59)Australia 2nd Innings : 257/4 dec (S Katich , M Morkel 2/38)South Africa 2nd Innings : 272 (H Amla 59, P Siddle 3/54)

This match portrayed bravery of Graeme Smith. Unless you were Australian, everyone who watched the match dearly wanted South Africa to draw this match. Smith had suffered a broken little finger while batting in the first innings and had left the field.

The Proteas were chasing 376 and were 8 down at one stage and had nearly 20 overs to bat out to secure a draw. A resilient partnership between Ntini and Steyn amounted to 50 runs from 104 deliveries. At this point, Steyn got out. Australia thought they had won the match, but in came Greame Smith with a broken hand to bat out the remaining 8.2 overs. He had taken pain killers, but the pain was visible in his face. He batted with great pain and had nearly survived. With 10 balls left, Mitchell Johnson got the better of a wounded but brave captain.

Eventually, South Africa lost the match. One of the bravest innings ever witnessed in the history of cricket went in vain.

#1 India vs Pakistan, Chennai, 1999

Result: Pakistan won by 12 runs.

Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat.

Pak 1st Innings : 238 (Moin Khan 60, Kumble 6/70)India 1st Innings : 254 (S Ganguly 54, S Mushtaq 5/94)Pak 2nd Innings : 286 (Shahid Afridi 141, V. Prasad 6/33)India 2nd Innings : 258 (Sachin 136, S Mushtaq 5/93)

Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat on a spinner-friendly Chennai wicket. They scored 238. In reply, India scored 254 courtesy of half-centuries by Dravid and Ganguly. Shahid Afridi rescued Pakistan in their 2nd innings and Pakistan set India an target of 271.

Chasing 271, on a square turner, India were reduced to 6 for 2 when Sachin Tendulkar walked out to the middle. India lost wickets at regular intervals and when Ganguly got out, the scorecard read 82/5. Tendulkar and Mongia batted to stitch together a good partnership which was eventually broken by Wasim Akram.

At that stage, India needed 53 runs to win with four wickets in hand. What was special about this knock was that, Sachin had braved a bad back to score a century. Still, all wasn't lost but Sachin fell for 136 with the scorecard reading 254/7 and India needing 17 runs to win. India were finally bowled out for 258. India lost the match by 12 runs. It was a fighting innings from Sachin which deserved a victory.