
Chasing big totals in Tests is easier than ever
Many of the game's most celebrated knocks were in the final innings. Some historians consider the three greatest of all time to all be in fourth-innings run chases: Brian Lara's 153 against Australia, Kusal Perera's 153 against South Africa and Ben Stokes's 135 against Australia. In each instance, the batsman defied formidable bowling attacks and the weight of history to lead his side to targets of more than 300, winning by one wicket.
Such innings are so celebrated partly because they are so rare. Yet while the mythology of the fourth-innings chase remains, England's magnificent chase at Headingley emphasised that Test cricket is now in a golden age for run chases.
In the history of Test cricket until 2020, chasing sides won just 65 times while chasing at least 250 runs, and lost 164, winning just 28.3 per cent of matches which had a positive result. Since the start of 2020, chasing teams have won 15 times while chasing at least 250, and lost 17 – winning 46.8 per cent of matches that have a positive result.
This phenomenon is best seen in England. Since Ben Stokes became captain before the 2022 summer, England have won six out of nine times when needing at least 250 to win. At home, that soars to an extraordinary six out of seven.
Yet other countries have also completed stunning chases in the 2020s. India hauled down 329 to win at the Gabba in 2021; West Indies made 395, the fifth-highest successful run chase of all time, in Chattogram to beat Bangladesh; Pakistan chased down 342 with four wickets to spare against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2022; New Zealand and Australia respectively chased down over 280 in consecutive Tests in Christchurch, in 2023 and 2024.
Earlier this month, South Africa were set 282 to win the World Test Championship final at Lord's, 70 more than any side had previously made in the match, and got there with five wickets in hand.
South Africa's chase showed a central reason for why sizeable run chases have become more common: Test matches are speeding up. Australia's second innings at Lord's was completed before lunch on day three. Rather than confronting the worst conditions of the match, as has historically been the norm for sides batting in the fourth innings, instead South Africa benefited from the best time in the match to bat. Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma could trust the bounce at Lord's, without having to contend with the seam movement that Australia had exploited earlier in the Test.
'We'll have a chase,' Ben Stokes said when England last hosted India, at Edgbaston in 2022. He decided to do the same when he won the toss at Headingley on the opening day this year. On both occasions England faced huge fourth-innings targets – 378 and 371 – yet ultimately won with some comfort. These are England's two highest successful chases of all time.
Leeds, with its fast outfield and a pitch that tends to flatten out, is particularly well-suited for such fourth-innings history-making. The last seven Tests at the ground have all been won by the chasing team, including England's Ashes victories in 2019 and 2023.
Stokes's preference for bowling first in England illustrates how the changing character of pitches is inverting conventional wisdom about Test pitches. Rather than becoming more arduous to bat as the match progresses, many wickets today – especially in New Zealand and England – offer early moisture and then flatten out. In the 2020s, the average runs per wicket in England is 36.5. That is the highest of any of the four innings, and a 13-run increase on the 2010s.
One theory for the shift is improvements in modern drainage methods, which have reduced the moisture on the pitch that bowlers can use to extract movement. The growing prevalence of back-to-back Tests, which can render bowlers fatigued when they are being attacked in the fourth innings, might also have contributed to run chases becoming more successful.
Rather than the fourth innings being the hardest to bat, in England the innings to avoid is the third. In the 2020s, the average runs per wicket in the third innings is just 27.4; the figure is 31, 32.5 and 36.3 in the first, second and fourth innings respectively.
The third-innings woes speak to team's struggles to set up the match – often seeming to struggle to locate the right tempo in an age when they need to set higher targets to be secure. While India batted superbly for much of their second innings, they still frittered away their advantage, losing their last six wickets for 31 runs.
Yet for all the uncertainties over how to approach the third innings, teams have never had more clarity about their strategy in the final innings. Historically teams in the fourth innings often had to assess whether to aim for a win or merely a draw. But now, with draws becoming obsolete, there is no such ambiguity.
Instead batsmen can lean upon their experience chasing targets in the limited-overs formats. In both forms of one-day cricket, chasing gives sides a slight but persistent advantage.
Ben Duckett, a supreme white-ball batsman too, was clinical in how he sized up risk on the final day. Just as Stokes himself did at Leeds in 2019, Duckett showed how limited-overs skills – especially his reverse sweep – have made run chases more attainable. Joe Root has steered England home in 19 successful run chases in ODIs; his undefeated 53 was the sixth time that he has been undefeated in a successful Test run chase since 2022.
The manner in which Root and Jamie Smith plundered runs as the target loomed showed the savviness that chasing sides now possess. Bowling sides defending targets above 300 were once guaranteed an extensive period with the second new ball; England won after facing just 12 deliveries of the second new ball.
The upshot is that possibilities in the fourth innings need to be reassessed. For England and beyond, feats long thought outlandish have now come to seem almost ordinary.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Independent
10 minutes ago
- The Independent
Leeds sign Lyon goalkeeper Lucas Perri as Daniel Farke shores up newly-promoted squad
Leeds have made their seventh summer signing by bringing in Brazilian goalkeeper Lucas Perri from Lyon for an initial €16m (£13.9m). The fee, which could rise by a further €2m in add-ons, takes Leeds' summer spending to around £75m as they bolster their squad in a bid to stay in the Premier League. The 27-year-old joins from Lyon, who he helped reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League last season in a campaign when he kept 13 clean sheets, after goalkeeper was a problem position for Leeds last season, even as they won the Championship. Manager Daniel Farke dropped the long-time regular Illan Meslier for back-up Karl Darlow for the last few games. A goalkeeper was always expected to be a summer priority for Farke, who has been busy in the transfer market. Leeds have also signed midfielders Sean Longstaff and Anton Stach, centre-backs Jaka Bijol and Sebastiaan Bornauw, left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson and forward Lukas Nmecha.


The Independent
10 minutes ago
- The Independent
England hope Ben Stokes benefits from a rest and bowls on Sunday
England are holding their breath captain Ben Stokes will be available to bowl as they push to seal a Rothesay series victory over India at Emirates Old Trafford on Sunday. Having turned an overnight 77 into 141 for a first Test century in two years to propel England to 669 and a 311-run first-innings lead, Stokes was then conspicuously absent for the 63 overs India batted. He claimed five for 72 in India's first innings but restricted himself to fielding duties as Shubman Gill and KL Rahul helped the tourists recover from nought for two to 174 without further loss. Stokes has pushed himself to the limit this summer but there is a suspicion this is catching up with him, having struggled with cramp in his left leg when he was batting on Friday, briefly retiring hurt. Asked if he will be fit to bowl on the final day of the fourth Rothesay Test, with England looking to move into an unassailable 3-1 series lead, England assistant Marcus Trescothick said: 'We're hoping so. 'We're hoping another night's rest and physio work overnight that he'll be back. It's just a build-up (of things). He's had quite a big workload in the last few weeks. It's just trying to monitor it.' Stokes underwent surgery on his left hamstring at the start of the year, but he has already bowled the most overs he ever has in a series, even if he leads the wicket-taking charts with 16 at 24.75. He has proved his all-round worth in Manchester by becoming the fourth Englishman – after Tony Greig, Ian Botham and Gus Atkinson – to record a century and five-for in the same match. Ashes 2005-winning captain Michael Vaughan said on the BBC's Test Match Special: 'Ben is a super-human at times. He was probably hoping that they would get the wickets and he wasn't going to be required. 'Maybe the medical staff just said 'Ben, have a day off'.' Chris Woakes dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan with successive deliveries in the first over but Gill survived the hat-trick ball and overcame being dropped on 46 by Liam Dawson to reach 78 not out. KL Rahul is unbeaten on 87 to give India hope of avoiding defeat and setting up a decider at the Kia Oval next week but Trescothick remains upbeat about England's chances, with or without Stokes. Trescothick added: 'We've got 10 other guys who are capable of doing special things also. 'It's never great when bowlers go down or you don't have someone available to do the work you need them to do, it's then just up to everybody else to pick up the pieces and do the extra work.'


The Sun
10 minutes ago
- The Sun
Man Utd hijack Brentford bid for wonderkid just days after snaring £71m Bryan Mbeumo from Premier League rivals
BRENTFORD face a transfer battle with Manchester United over whizkid Idrissa Gueye. The Bees are reeling from losing forward Bryan Mbeumo to the Red Devils in a £71million deal. 2 Yoane Wissa is also set to leave this summer — but new boss Keith Andrews feels he can put one over United chief Ruben Amorim by landing Senegalese kid Gueye. Andrews wants to snap up the Metz forward, 18, but thought Brentford had only Southampton to beat for his signature. Yet United and Burnley have since joined the hunt, along with German side Borussia Dortmund. And the fierce competition has forced Bees chief to now look at matching his French club's £15m asking price. Brentford can offer Gueye a chance at early Premier League football, while United only see him as a long-term project. The Clarets are late to the chase but remain realistic candidates as they too could offer a quicker route to first-team football. The teenager only joined Ligue 2 Metz from Senegalese club Génération Foot in January, making his debut in a goalless draw with Lorient. He scored his first goal in a 3-1 win over Paris FC just days after arriving, but saw his special occasion end in A&E. Gueye collided with an opponent and was rushed to hospital with damage to his teeth. Gueye was also part of the Senegal squad that handed Thomas Tuchel his first defeat as England boss. After an early Harry Kane opener, the African side turned the game around to secure a historic 3-1 win at the City Ground, though Gueye was an unused substitute.