A tied Test match is so rare, it's almost unthinkable. It's so rare that's there have only been 2 such instances. The second one took place today (22 September) in 1986. It was achieved by India against Australia in Chennai. It took place during Australia's tour of India in 1986.
It was the 1st Test that took place in Madras (now Chennai). Australlia won the toss and elected to bat first. A few brilliant knocks from David Boon (122); Dean Jones (210) and the then-skipper, Allan Border (106), saw them posting 574-7 and declare their innings. They were able to bowl out the hosts for 397. Captain, Kapil Dev, top scored with 119. Greg Mathhews was the chief destroyer with figures of 5-103 after bowling 28.2 overs.
Australia batted with an initial lead of 177 runs. They then added another 170 runs before declaring with the scoreboard reading 170-5. This led to India needing 348 runs to win. It looked like India were poised to win the fixture as they racked up 190 runs while losing just 2 wickets. With five overs remaining, India found themselves at 330-6. They needed 18 more runs to bag a victory. However, Australia’s Ray Bright struck twice in the next over to end India’s chances of a victory.
Shivlal Yadav attempted to lift the pressure by thrashing Greg Matthews for a six. He eventually lost his wicket to Bright, leaving India at 344-9. India needed four runs from the last eight balls. Maninder Singh played out Ray Bright’s remaining two balls to leave Ravi Shastri on strike for the final over. The Indian all-rounder smashed the second ball for two runs before collecting a single off the third delivery. This meant that India would not lose but Greg Matthews had three strikes at a hapless Maninder. It took the Aussie two deliveries to send the Indian bowler packing as the hosts were dismissed for 347.
The match also witnessed cricketers from both sides receiving Player of the Match awards. Kapil Dev was recognised from the Indian camp for adding 119 runs whereas Dean Jones took the award from the Australian side for his double-century in the game.
The 3-match Test series was draw 0-0.
As stated above, that was the second such instance. The first one happened 26 years prior in 1960. Australia were also involved in this one. However, they were up against the West Indies.
The West Indies team of 1960-61 had high public expectatons. Sir Donald Bradman, who was the Australian team selector, took the unusual step of talking to the team ahead of the 1st Test. He said that he wanted them to play bright and attractive cricket. He passed the same message to the visiting team.
West Indies batted first, posting 453 all out. Sir Garry Sobers top scored with 132. Alan Davidson took 5-135 after bowling 30 overs. Australia replied with 505 all out. Debutant, Norm O' Neill, top scored with 181. Wes Hall took 4 - 140 after bowling 29.3 overs.
This left West Indies trailing by 52 runs. West Indies didn't have the best start to its second innings, losing its first wicket when opener Cammie Smith was out for just 13. Fighting half-centuries from skipper, Sir Frank Worrell and Rohan Kanhai, had resurrected the Caribbean innings, taking it to 210-4.
From there, West Indies lost the remaining six wicket for 74 runs. They were bowled out for 284. Davidson returned a match haul of 11-222. This set Australia a target of 233.
The final innings witnessed a seesaw battle. West Indies had reduced Australia to 92-6 and looked set to claim victory. However, Davidson, the star with the ball and captain, Richie Benaud, stitched together a 134-run partnership to take Australia closer to victory.
Joe Solomon's throw ran out Australia's Ian Meckiff; resulting in the first ever tied Test match in the history at Brisbane.
Australia and West Indies played out the first-ever tied Test match in cricket history in Brisbane on 14 November1960.
At the end of the match, there was a bit of confusion as to the result. Crowds gathered towards the Sir Leslie End for clarification. The scoreboard read that the match was tied.
It's amazing to see how teams are ready to fight to the very end. This comes even when the sight of a loss seems nailed on. I just wish I was around to see these two instances occur. The headlines would've been fascinating to see. This isn't just coming from me. I can only assume that both cricket lovers and sport ethusiasts would've also loved to see the aftermaths of these two matches.