Top 10 Shortest Test Matches in Cricket History

November 28, 2021 By Sourav

Cricket is played by very few countries in the world, and one of the main reasons, perhaps, is how time-consuming they can be. Let’s think about the Test Matches: it takes 5 whole days to complete one single match, and even after that, some matches might just end in a frustrating draw. That cricket is a very complex sport with many rules to remember and understand the point, for the time being. The whole pace of a cricket match is rather slow. Keeping this in view, we are up with the Top 10 Shortest Test Matches.

Shortest Test Matches in Cricket History | 2022 Updates

Even if we consider the shortest format, i.e. the T-20 cricket, one match takes 4 hours to complete. Still, this format has brought in many new viewers. The cricket fans who have the more traditional bend of mind still prefer the test matches. But, in some instances, the test matches have been seen to end rather quickly. Here is the list of the shortest test matches in cricket history. Let’s take a look at these.

10. England vs. Australia (1882)

The 1st Test Match of Australia in the England Test Series was played between Australia and England on 28th August 1882, at the Kennington Oval Ground, London. It was a 4-ball/over test match which continued for just 2 days.

English player JM Read and CT Studd made their test debuts in this match. Australia won the toss and opted to bat first, and made 63 runs, losing all their 10 wickets in 80 overs.

England, on their first innings, scored 101 runs, losing all their 10 wickets in 71.3 overs. Australia, in the second innings, again lost their all 10 wickets in 122 runs in 63 overs.

England, in the final innings, while chasing, lost all their 10 wickets in 77 runs off 55 overs. Australia earned the victory in the match by just 7 runs.

9. England vs. Australia (July 1888)

Next in the list of Top 10 Shortest Test Matches in Cricket History. The 1st Test Match of the 1888 Ashes Series was played between Australia and England on 16th July 1888, at the Lord's Cricket Ground, London.

This match was continued for just 2 days. English player R Abel and Australian JD Edwards, GHS Trott, and SMJ Woods made their test debuts in this match. Australia won the toss and elected to bat first, and made 116 runs with all their 10 wickets down in 71.2 overs.

England, in their first innings, scored 53 runs with all their 10 wickets down in 50 overs. Australia, in the second innings, again lost their all 10 wickets in 60 runs off 29.2 overs.

England, in the final innings, while chasing, lost all their 10 wickets in 62 runs of 47 overs. Australia won the match by 61 runs.

8. England vs. Australia (August 1888)

The 2nd Test Match of the 1888 Ashes Series was played between Australia and England on 13th August 1888, at the Kennington Oval Ground, London. It was a 4-ball/over test match which continued for just 2 days.

English players Shuter, FH Sugg, and H Wood made their test debuts in this match. Australia won the toss and elected to bat first, and scored just 80 runs with all their 10 wickets lost in 80 overs.

England, on their first innings, scored 317 runs with all their 10 wickets lost in 138.2 overs.

Australia, in the second innings, again lost all 10 wickets with 100 runs in 69.2 overs and failed to meet the target set by England’s first batting innings. England earned their win in the test match by an innings and 137 runs.

7. England vs. Australia (August 1888 - 3rd Test)

The 3rd Test Match of the 1888 Ashes Series was played between Australia and England on 30th August 1888, at the Old Trafford Ground, Manchester. It was a 4-ball/over test match which continued for just 2 days and lasted till the very next day 31st August.

England won the toss and chose to bat first and scored 172 runs while losing all of their 10 wickets in 113.1 overs. Australia, in their first innings of batting, lost all their 10 wickets with 81 runs in 52.2 overs.

The Australian team, in their second innings of batting after a follow-on, again lost all their 10 wickets with just 70 runs in 31.2 overs and failed to achieve the target set by England’s innings.

England emerged victorious in the Ashes test match by an innings and 21 runs.

6. South Africa vs. England (March 1889 - 1st Test)

The 1st Test Match of the1889 England in South Africa Test Series was played between South Africa and England on 12th March 1889, at the Crusaders Ground, St George's Park.

It was a 4-ball/over test match which continued for just 2 days till the very next day 13th March, and the whole South African team made their debut in international cricket in this match.

South Africa won the toss and opted to bat first, and reached 84 runs with all their 10 wickets down in 75.2 overs. England, on their first innings, scored 148 runs with all their 10 wickets down in 66.2 overs.

South Africa, in the second innings, again lost their all 10 wickets down with 129 runs in 90.1 overs. England, in the final innings, while chasing, achieved the required run to win the match of 67 with just 2 wickets down in 21.1 overs. England earned the victory by 8 wickets.

5. South Africa vs. England (March 1889 - 2nd Test)

The 2nd Test Match of the 1889 England in South Africa Test Series was played between South Africa and England on 25th March 1889, at the Newlands Ground, Cape Town.

It was a 4-ball/over test match which continued for just 2 days and lasted till the very next day on 26th March. England won the toss and elected to bat first and made 292 runs while losing all of their 10 wickets in 123.1 overs.

South Africa, in their first innings of batting, lost all their 10 wickets under with 47 runs in 47.1 overs.

The South African team, in their second innings of batting after a follow-on, again lost all their 10 wickets with just 43 runs in 28.2 overs and failed to achieve the target set by England’s innings. England won the test match by an innings and 202 runs.

4. England vs. Australia (1890)

The 2nd Test Match of the 1890 Ashes Series was played between Australia and England on 11th August 1890, at the Kennington Oval Ground, London. It was a 5-ball/over test match which continued for just 2 days.

English player J Cranston, F Martin, and JW Sharpe scored their test debuts in this match. Australia won the toss and elected to bat first, and reached 92 runs with all their 10 wickets lost in 65.2 overs.

England, on their first innings, scored an exact 100 runs with all their 10 wickets lost in 55 overs. Australia, in the second innings, again lost their all 10 wickets lot with 102 runs in 60.2 overs.

England, in the final innings, while chasing, achieved the required 95 runs to win the match while losing 8 wickets lost in 51 overs. England team emerged victorious in the test match by 2 wickets.

3. South Africa vs. England (1896)

The 1st Test Match of the1896 England in South Africa Test Series was played between South Africa and England on 13th February 1896, at the Crusaders Ground, St George's Park.

It was a 5-ball/over test match which continued for just 2 days till the very next day 14th February, and SMJ Woods made his debut for England after playing for Australia in this match. South Africa won the toss and chose to field first, and England made 185 runs losing all their 10 wickets in 70.4 overs.

South Africa, on their first innings, scored 93 runs, losing all their 10 wickets in 30.4 overs. England, in the second innings, again lost their all 10 wickets with 226 runs in 80.4 overs.

South Africa, in the final innings, while chasing, failed to achieve the required run to win the match and lost all 10 wickets with 30 runs in just 18.4 overs. England won the match by 288 runs.

2. South Africa vs. England (1896)

The 3rd Test Match of the 1896 England in South Africa Test Series was played between South Africa and England. The game took place on 21st March 1896 at the Newlands Ground, Cape Town.

It was a 5-ball/over test match which lasted for just 2 days. Besides, English players EJ Tyler made his test debuts in this match. England won the toss and opted to field first, South Africa, and scored just 115 runs with all their 10 wickets gone in 48 overs.

England, on their first innings, scored 265 runs with all their 10 wickets gone in 101.4 overs. South Africa, in the second innings, again lost their all 10 wickets with just 117 runs in 64 overs and failed to meet the target set by England’s first batting innings.

England earned their victory in the test match by an innings and 33 runs.

1. Australia vs. South Africa (1912)

The 1st Test Match of the 1912 Triangular Tournament was played between Australia and South Africa. The match took place on 27th May 1912 at one of the best cricket grounds, Old Trafford Ground, Manchester.

This match continued for just 2 days and lasted till the very next day 28th May. Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. And, they reached a whopping 448 runs while losing all of their 10 wickets in 122.3 overs.

South Africa, in their first innings of batting, lost all their 10 wickets with 265 runs in 116 overs. The South African team, in their second innings of batting after a follow-on, again lost all their 10 wickets.

And, they ended their innings with just 95 runs in 28.2 overs and failed to achieve the target set by Australia. Australian bowler TJ Matthews took a hat-trick in each innings both on the same day of the test match. Australia emerged victorious in the test match by an innings and 88 runs.

Conclusion

Thus, we have seen that in these test matches, the teams played with a different kind of spirit and pace. All those contributed to the early end of each of the matches. No matter if one team had an advantage over the other as a better team, or if the winning team had a better day, the end results were short test matches that ended prematurely.