England beat Australia by 2 runs at Edgbaston in 2005 — the narrowest Ashes victory in history, a match that swung multiple times across four days, and is widely voted the greatest Test match ever played.
Flintoff had taken 3/52 in Australia's first innings and made 68 and 73 with the bat. On the final day, Australia chased 282 — Langer and Hayden making 47, but both falling. Clarke and Katich kept them in the hunt. At 137/7, England appeared to have it. Then Warne and Lee put on 45. Kasprowicz joined Lee: they added 59 more.
At 282 needing two runs from the last wicket: Kasprowicz gloved a ball down the leg side to Geraint Jones. Out. England won by 2 runs. The Ashes were level.
Flintoff's consolation of Brett Lee afterward became the match's defining image. Sixteen million viewers watched the moment live. The series was alive. England went on to win 2-1.
England 407 in first innings — the platform set
Australia 2 wickets needed, 23 runs short — Warne and Lee's stand
Kasprowicz gloves to Geraint Jones — England win by 2 runs
August 4, 2005
Edgbaston Test begins — England make 407
August 6, 2005
Australia chase 282 — 137/7 at one point
August 7, 2005
Warne-Lee partnership takes Australia to 279
August 7, 2005 (final session)
Kasprowicz gloves — England win by 2 runs
England won the 2005 Ashes series 2-1 — their first in 18 years. The series was celebrated with a bus parade. Both Warne and Flintoff were named joint Men of the Series. The match is studied in coaching academies and sports psychology classes worldwide.
The greatest Test match played since World War II — a four-day game that produced every possible result at every possible moment. No sport produces tension of this quality over four consecutive days.
Edgbaston 2005 is the standard against which all Test matches are measured. It proved that Test cricket could compete with any entertainment form for sustained tension and narrative. It saved Test cricket's relevance in England for at least a generation.
Australia vs West Indies
1960-12-14
The first tied Test in 86 years of cricket history — Australia and West Indies finished level on 737 runs each after five days of breathless cricket in Brisbane, producing one of the most dramatic finishes the game has ever seen.
India vs Australia
1986-09-22
Twenty-six years after Brisbane, cricket produced only its second tied Test — Dean Jones's heroic 210 through crippling heat and Dean Jones's fever, Ravi Shastri's unbeaten 48 and India needing 2 off the last over, only for Maninder Singh to be out lbw off the final ball.
Australia vs South Africa
1999-06-17
Lance Klusener smashed Australia to the brink of elimination, then ran out Allan Donald off the penultimate ball to tie the match — but Australia advanced to the final on superior run rate, ending South Africa's greatest World Cup campaign in devastating fashion.