Pink ball report card: How teams have fared in day-night Tests

All the 11 Tests under lights have had a winner. It augurs well for India as it prepares for its maiden day-night fixture against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens.

Published : Oct 31, 2019 20:57 IST

A glimpse from the first day-night Test match between Australia and New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval.

 

Test cricket is no more about survival. We rarely see situations when a side bats for a draw, and the matches are over inside three-and-a-half to four days. The day-night format is likely to make it further entertaining. To enhance the game-watching experience and popularise Test cricket, the day-night format with the pink ball made its entry four years ago. Eleven games have been played so far, and all of them had a winner.

Eight of the 12 Test playing nations have had their share of pink. India and Bangladesh will join the club on November 22 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, the second fixture in the two-match series of the World Test Championship.

Australia is the most successful side so far in pink-ball cricket. It has won five out of five; all at home, thrice in Adelaide and twice in Brisbane.

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Sri Lanka is the second in the list with two wins out of three. It beat Pakistan in Dubai, beat West Indies in Bridgetown and lost to Australia in Brisbane.

England, South Africa and New Zealand have won one Test each.

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England beat West Indies at home (Birmingham) and lost to Australia and New Zealand in Adelaide and Auckland respectively.

West Indies has lost three out of three.

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On Friday, England will start their tour of New Zealand with the five-match T20I series followed by the Test series that is scheduled to begin from November 22.

Bangladesh will start their India tour with a three-match T20I series starting November 3. The men in blue will be led by Rohit Sharma as Virat Kohli has been rested.

Day-night Test results(as of October 31, 2019)

1. Australia beat New Zealand by 3 wickets, Adelaide, November 27-29, 2015

Highlights: Josh Hazlewood 6/70, Trent Boult 5/60

2. Pakistan beat West Indies by 56 runs, Dubai, October 13-17, 2016

Highlights: Azhar Ali 302*, Yasir Shah 5/121, Devendra Bishoo 8/49, Darren Bravo 87 & 116

3. Australia beat South Africa by 7 wickets, Adelaide, November 24-27, 2016

Highlights: Faf du Plessis 118*, Stephen Cook 104

4. Australia beat Pakistan by 39 runs, Brisbane, December 15-19, 2016

Highlights: Steve Smith 130, Peter Handscomb 105

5. England beat West Indies by an innings and 209 runs, Birmingham, August 17-19, 2016

Highlights: Alastair Cook 243, Joe Root 136

6. Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 68 runs, Dubai, October 6-10, 2017

Highlights: Dimuth Karunaratne 196, Yasir Shah 6/184, Diruwan Perera 5/98

7. Australia beat England by 120 runs, Adelaide, December 2-6, 2017

Highlights: Shaun Marsh 126*, James Anderson 5/43, Mitchell Starc 5/88

8. South Africa beat Zimbabwe by an innings and 120 runs, Port Elizabeth, December 26-27, 2017

Highlights: Aiden Markram 125, Morne Morkel 5/21, Keshav Maharaj 5/59

9. New Zealand beat England by an innings and 49 runs, Auckland, March 22-26, 2018

Highlights: 10 wickets between Trent Boult (6/32) and Tim Southee (4/25) in first innings, dismissing Eng for 58, Henry Nicholls 145*

10. Sri Lanka beat West Indies by 4 wickets, Bridgetown, June 23-26, 2018

Highlights: Jason Holder 74, 4/19 & 5/41

11.Australia beat Sri Lanka by an innings and 40 runs, Brisbane, January 24-26, 2019

Highlights: Suranga Lakmal 5/75, Pat Cummins 6/23

 

All matches live on Star Sports.