Looking back at other close finishes in Test match history

England were pipped at the post by New Zealand, whose barest-of-all-margins victory by a single run in Wellington on a gripping final day saw an entertaining Test series finish all-square at 1-1.

Here, the PA news agency looks back at other close finishes in Test history.

West Indies beat Australia by one run – Adelaide, January 1993

Curtly Ambrose
Curtly Ambrose bowled West Indies to victory (Rebecca Naden/PA)

England beat Australia by two runs – Edgbaston, August 2005

Steve Harmison
Steve Harmison appeals the wicket of Michael Kasprowicz (Rui Vieira/PA)

England beat Australia by one wicket – Headingley, August 2019

Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes celebrates the victory (Mike Egerton/PA)

West Indies beat Australia by one wicket – Barbados, March 1999

Brian Lara
Brian Lara was the West Indies matchwinner (Rebecca Naden/PA)

Sri Lanka beat South Africa by one wicket – Durban, February 2019

With Sri Lanka a fading force after the retirement of several all-time greats in the previous decade, there was only one favourite for this Test series. And when Sri Lanka slid to 226 for nine in pursuit of 304, that notion was reinforced. But Kusal Perera’s unbeaten 153 helped Sri Lanka to an incredible, against-all-odds victory. His unbroken 78-run partnership with Vishwa Fernando went down as the highest last-wicket stand in a successful fourth-innings chase in first-class cricket. Sri Lanka went on to triumph in Port Elizabeth to become the first Asian side to win a Test series in South Africa.

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