India dominate England: A look at each nation's biggest test wins

India bounced back from a first-test defeat to Ben Stokes’ England by winning back-to-back tests, including a 434-run win, marking their biggest-ever margin of victory by runs in history. Let’s take a look at that test and the other test-playing nations' largest-ever victories in the format.

India were 33-3 at one stage in their first innings before Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja came together, putting on 204 together. The pair both scored magnificent centuries and were ably supported by debutants Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel, as well as Ravichandran Ashwin, all of whom chipped in with runs.

There may be only two (Garfield Sobers and Jacques Kallis) all-rounders in the history of test cricket to have a genuine claim to being better than Ravindra Jadeja, there are others in the debate certainly, but very few can change games like Jaddu can. His first innings ton was followed by a fourth innings five-for, a truly remarkable one-man effort.

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England’s first innings of 319 was only possible due to Ben Duckett’s magnificent 153 from 151 balls. Beyond that, a series of rash shots led to a disappointing collapse.

Jaiswal looks every bit the superstar already, scoring his second double-century in two matches in India’s second innings. He now has 861 runs at 71.75 through seven test matches, per ESPN Cricinfo, a remarkable start to his career.

India piled on 420/4 declared in their second innings, leaving England 556 runs to win, which despite previous declarations to the contrary, proved too much for England’s batting lineup which collapsed for just 122. The humiliation could have been greater were it not for Mark Wood’s swashbuckling 33 from 15 balls. 

India’s 434-run margin of victory broke their previous record by 62 runs and became the eighth-largest test win in history, per ESPN Cricinfo. Let’s take a look at the other’s test playing nations’ biggest wins ever!

We have to go all the way back to 1928 for this one, with England piling on a mammoth 521 in their first innings off the back of a Patsy Hendren 169. They followed this by bowling a star-studded Australian lineup out for just 122. England batted again, scoring 342 before rolling the Aussies for just 66 in the fourth innings. Brutal.

It took just six years for the Australians to get their revenge over England as Don Bradman and Bill Ponsford each scored double tons en route to a mammoth first-innings score of 701. England responded with a respectable 321 before Australia batted again, scoring 327 leaving England 708 to win. England didn’t get close as they were bowled out for 145.

Bangladesh has become a very good team in home conditions in recent times, as test new boys Afghanistan found out. Bangladesh racked up 382 and 425/4 declared in their innings with Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mominul Haque scoring second innings tons. The Afghans were only able to muster 146 and 115 in reply.

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This was the fourth test between Australia and South Africa on the Aussies’ fateful tour in 2018 that is perhaps best known for ‘Sandpapergate. A side shorn of its best players following the debacle was battered by the Proteas who put up 488 and 344/6d with Aiden Markram and Faf du Plessis toning up. A disheartened Australia could only muster 221 & 119 in response.

The 2009 vintage of the Sri Lankan test team is arguably the strongest side the nation has ever put out, so it is perhaps no surprise to see them winning big against a poor Bangladeshi team. Tillakaratne Dilshan scored 162 and 143 to help his side put up 384 and 447/6 declared. Bangladesh barely put up a fight, scoring just 208 and 158 in response.

Perhaps the strangest scorecard on this list as, out of the four innings, three of them were remarkably low-scoring. The Windies kicked things off with 211, 134 of which came from the bat of Gordon Greenidge. England responded with a meager 71 thanks to a Michael Holding five-for. The Windies racked up 411/5 declared before rolling England again for 126.

New Zealand are always formidable in home conditions, with pitches that offer movement to seamers early before flattening out as the game goes on. Sri Lanka couldn’t deal with these conditions in 2018, despite bowling the Kiwis out for 178 in their first dig. The Sri Lankan’s score of 104 was met by 585/4 declared in the third innings. A meek 236 wasn’t enough to spare Sri Lankan blushes.

Pakistan’s largest victory came during their spell playing ‘home games’ in the UAE for security reasons. Another huge margin of victory in 2018, a strange year in test cricket it seems. Pakistan scored 282 and 400/9 declared in their innings while Australia could only muster up 145 & 164 in a side missing David Warner and Steve Smith due to suspension.

Zimbabwe scored an imposing 389 in their first innings with Brendan Taylor’s 171 being the standout knock. Bangladesh only reached 134 in their first dig before Zimbabwe racked up 272/7 declared behind another Taylor ton. Bangladesh were set 483 to win but could only get themselves to a less-than-ideal 147. All stats per ESPN Cricinfo.

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