Ask fans on the Playinexchange Platform about the biggest comeback in cricket history and most will name Kolkata 2001. Despite India being at risk of losing the match, they won against Australia by 171 runs. People generally mention the following matches: Headingley (1981), Headingley (2019), Gabba (2021), and Wellington (2023).
A Test runs for up to five days, which gives a struggling side plenty of time to fight back. Teams get written off on Day 2 and end up shaking hands as winners on Day 5.
Here’s a stat worth knowing: in all of Test cricket history, only four sides have won after following on, and three of those matches made this list. For each one, you’ll get what went wrong, who turned it around, and how it finished.
How These Comeback Moments Were Ranked
Two things decided the order. First, how much trouble the team was in. Second, how they got out of it, following on 274 behind, beats chasing a tough but fair total. A couple of record chases still got in, mainly because hardly anyone expected the batting side to get close.
1. Kolkata 2001: India vs Australia
Steve Waugh’s Australia had won 16 Tests in a row going into this one. They put up 445, bowled India out for 171 and made them follow on. Most people at Eden Gardens figured it would be over by the weekend.
It wasn’t. The fourth day began positively for India as both Laxman and Dravid scored centuries. Laxman scored 281 runs, whereas the other one scored 180 runs. When India declared 657, Harbhajan Singh was called up with the ball.
Not only did he perform a hat-trick in his first innings, but also took 13 wickets during the game. The second innings of the Australian team ended up scoring only 212 runs.
You’ll still hear it called the biggest comeback in cricket history, and Laxman’s 281 shows up on nearly every list of the greatest batting comebacks in cricket.
2. Headingley 1981: England vs Australia
England followed on 227 behind. By 135 for 7 in their second go, they still needed 92 just to make Australia bat again. That’s when Ian Botham decided to swing at everything and made 149 not out, mostly with the tail-enders hanging around.
Australia only had to get 130. Bob Willis had other plans and ripped through them with 8 for 43. They were all out for 111, and England had it by 18 runs.
3. Sydney 1894/95: England vs Australia
This is the one where it first happened. Australia batted big, 586, and England managed 325 in reply. Following on, England dug in for 437, setting a target of 177.
At stumps on Day 5, Australia sat at 113 for 2 and looked comfortable. Overnight rain soaked the pitch, though. The next morning, spinners Bobby Peel and Johnny Briggs made the ball misbehave and knocked them over for 166. England won by 10 runs.
4. Headingley 2019: England vs Australia
Bowled out for 67 in the first innings. Not a great start. Australia eventually set England 359, and at 286 for 9 most viewers had switched off.
Ben Stokes hadn’t. He and Jack Leach put on 76 for the last wicket, with Leach contributing exactly 1 run. Stokes ended on 135 not out and hit the winning boundary himself, a one-wicket win. If you started watching cricket recently, this is probably the biggest comeback in cricket history you remember seeing live.
5. Durban 1949/50: South Africa vs Australia
Hugh Tayfield’s 7 for 23 sent Australia packing for 75, well short of South Africa’s 311. Oddly, South Africa chose not to enforce the follow-on and went in again. They crashed for 99.
That left Australia 336 to get on a pitch nobody trusted. Neil Harvey made 151 not out and steered them to a five-wicket win.
6. Antigua 2003: West Indies vs Australia
Chasing 418 had never been done in Test cricket history, and Australia’s attack was strong. Ramnaresh Sarwan got a hundred. So did Shivnarine Chanderpaul. When both fell, the tail had to finish it, and Vasbert Drakes and Omari Banks got West Indies over the line by three wickets. It’s still the highest fourth-innings chase on record.
7. Sydney 2010: Australia vs Pakistan
Australia got bundled out for 127 on Day 1 and fell 206 behind. Second time around, they were 257 for 8 and in real danger. Michael Hussey stuck around, finished on 134 not out and added 123 with Peter Siddle along the way.
Pakistan’s target was 176, which looked easy enough on paper. Nathan Hauritz took five and Pakistan were out for 139, 36 short.
8. Cape Town 2011: South Africa vs Australia
This one was chaos. Australia made 284, then bowled South Africa out for 96. Their lead evaporated almost immediately because Australia were then all out for 47. Twenty-three wickets went down on Day 2.
South Africa were left needing 236. Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla both made hundreds and won it by eight wickets. Fans still bring it up when talking about strange cricket match miracles.
9. Brisbane 2021: India vs Australia
Australia hadn’t lost at the Gabba since 1988. India turned up with a squad so hit by injuries that several players were making their debut series. On the last day, they had to chase 328.
Shubman Gill made 91. Pujara wore blow after blow to the body and refused to go off. Pant came in later, hit 89 not out and got India home with three wickets to spare. That ended Australia’s 32 years without a loss at the Gabba.
10. Wellington 2023: New Zealand vs England
England piled up 435 for 8 before declaring, and New Zealand could only reply with 209. Follow-on enforced. Kane Williamson then made 132 in a second innings of 483, leaving England 258 to win.
Joe Root’s 95 had England close. Neil Wagner kept going though, took four wickets, and the match ended when James Anderson edged one behind. New Zealand won by a single run, only the second time a Test has finished that close.
What These Cricket Match Miracles Have in Common
Go back through all ten and you’ll spot something. Somebody bats for a very long time, usually with a partner nobody expected much from. Laxman and Dravid, Stokes and Leach, Hussey and Siddle. After this, the bowler usually manages three or four quick wickets. Hence, in case the scorecard is looking grim, hold on for one last session before switching off.
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