Oval thriller: Did India register their narrowest win in Tests?
What's the story
India's thrilling six-run victory over England in the fifth and final Test at The Oval on Saturday was their narrowest win by runs in Test history. The previous record was a 13-run win against Australia in Mumbai in 2004. In that match, Australia were set a target of 107 runs but were bowled out for just 93. Meanwhile, the Oval affair went right down to the wire as England agonizingly fell short while chasing 374.
Uncommon victories
India's narrowest win by runs
India's six-run victory at The Oval is one of only seven narrowest wins by runs in Test history. This win meant the series ended in a 2-2 draw. There are two other one-run wins, one by West Indies over Australia in Adelaide in 1993 and one by New Zealand over England in Wellington in 2023. In addition, there have been 15 one-wicket victories, including India's over Australia in Mohali back in October 2010.
Team changes
Rare occurrence of both teams making 4 changes
The fifth Test at The Oval saw both teams make four changes from the last match, a rare occurrence in mid-series. This was only the sixth time both sides had made such a number of changes in a Test match during an ongoing series. The record for most team changes by one side in mid-series is 11, set by Australia back in 1884-85 when they fielded an entirely new side for the second Ashes Test against England.
Runs
Second-highest series aggregate
As per Cricbuzz, the latest England-India Test series saw batters score a total of 7,187 runs. These are the second-most aggregate runs in a Test series. The tally is only behind that of the 1993 Ashes (England vs Australia: 7,221 runs). According to ESPNcricinfo, India recorded 3,809 of those runs across five matches, the second-most recorded by a team in a Test series.