At the SSC, Sonal Dinusha & co. pulled off one of the greatest match-saving performances in 21st-century Test cricket.
The criterion
The list does not include innings or partnerships that resulted in wins. It takes into consideration only the performances that stretched into the last day of drawn Test matches that began on or after January 1, 2000.
The 10 best Test match-saving acts of the 21st century
10. Hanuma Vihari and R Ashwin, Sydney 2020/21
At 250-3, India seemed to set to chase 407, but two quick wickets and Vihari’s hamstring injury forced them to pull the plug. Having spent the day standing because of a bad back, R Ashwin joined him with more than three hours left. Waiting in the pavilion was Ravindra Jadeja, with a dislocated thumb. The Australians threw everything – verbal and non-verbal – at them (probably overdoing the bouncer ploy at times), but Vihari and Ashwin stayed put. India saved the match and in the next Test, clinched a historic seris win.
9. Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Karachi 2021/22
On a flat pitch, Pat Cummins dared Pakistan to chase 506 or bat out nearly two days. From 21-2, Shafique (96) and Babar (196) carried the fight well into the final day. Australia struck twice more before Babar found another ally, in Rizwan (104 not out). They added 115, but while the Australians could not break through, Pakistan did not go for the kill either. Babar’s ten-hour vigil ended with Pakistan on 392. They lost three wickets for 22 runs, but Rizwan helped them save the Test.
8. Sonal Dinusha & co., SSC 2026
In spirit, the Test is similar to several on this list. Up against India’s 503-9, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 290 on the fourth morning, and reached 229-6 by stumps on day four. But India still had Dinusha to contend with ... and they failed to for the entirety of the final day. As he scored his second hundred of the Test (and third of the two-match series), Dinusha found support in Keshara Nuwantha (150 balls) and Lahiru Kumara (90 balls).
7. Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews, Wellington 2018/19
The first of the five entries in New Zealand, and one of several helped by rain. Trailing by 296 in the first innings, Sri Lanka fell to 13-3 in the second on the third evening, but New Zealand could not take another wicket after that. Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner, and Ajaz Patel threw everything they could at them, but Mendis (141 not out) and Mathews (120 not out) batted out the entire fourth day and a bit of the fifth until rain arrived to secure the draw.
6. Darren Bravo, Dunedin 2013/14
Yet another third-innings effort, this time after following on from a deficit of 396 with over two and a half days left. It was an unwinnable position, but Bravo knew that it could be drawn. He batted for nine and a half hours for his 218, continuing until the fifth and staying put until the innings defeat had been averted. Daren Sammy then pushed New Zealand’s target to 112, which combined with Shane Shillingford’s quadruple strike, ensured New Zealand did not reach the target before the rains arrived.
5. Gautam Gambhir & co., Napier 2008/09
At 10 hours 43 minutes, Gambhir’s 137 is the longest innings on the list. He came to bat on the third evening after New Zealand asked India to bat again with a 314-run lead, and continued well into the second session of the final day. As support came from Rahul Dravid (62 in four hours) and VVS Laxman (124 not out in four and a half), India drew the Test, held on to the lead, and eventually won their first series in the country since 1975/76.
4. Shai Hope, Justin Greaves, Kemar Roach, Christchurch 2025/26
Hope had not scored a Test hundred since Headingley 2018, but he had ended that drought in the previous Test. Here, he found himself batting with Greaves (who averaged 23 at that point) as the West Indies were 72-4 in pursuit of 531. The pair added 196, but then New Zealand struck twice. Roach, without a Test fifty in 85 Tests, now came to bat with nearly five hours left, and the two batted out time. This stunning effort from an unlikely trio does not make it to the top three because two Kiwi bowlers, Matt Henry and Nathan Smith, were injured, making the resistance a bit easier.
3. Abdul Razzaq and Kamran Akmal, Mohali 2004/05
Very similar to Dinusha’s effort, this one ranks higher because it came in an overseas Test and the Indian bowlers did not have to bowl in consecutive innings. With a 204-run lead, India had Pakistan at 257-6 at stumps on day four, but they could not get past Razzaq’s (71) defence nor stop Akmal (109) from finding the boundary. Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was so anxious he chose to not watch most of the day. He could have - Anil Kumble found little support from the fast bowlers.
2. Brendon McCullum & co., Wellington 2013/14
McCullum lifted New Zealand from 94-5 in the second innings, when they needed another 152 to make India bat again. They had to bat for more than two days, but BJ Watling (124) stayed eight and a half hours with him to put on 359. Debutant Jimmy Neesham’s hundred then took the game out of India’s reach. After 15 wickets in 87 overs, India got only three more in the next 167.2. McCullum’s 302 is the highest individual Test score for New Zealand and only the second triple-hundred in the third innings of a Test.
1. Faf du Plessis & co., Adelaide 2012/13
What if you defend and do nothing else? Down to 45-4 in the fourth innings, South Africa realised the futility of strokeplay or even runs. So AB de Villiers defended for four hours to score 22. Jacques Kallis then stayed put for two and a half hours. At the other end was debutant du Plessis, whose impregnable defence the Australians found impossible to breach. As the tail chipped in, du Plessis followed his first-innings 78 with a 466-minute 110 not out, and he and his teammates gave the word “blockathon” to cricket.
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