On this day, 118 years ago: England pull off a sensational run-chase

Chasing totals in excess of 200 was quite tough on English soil in the starting decades of Test cricket. The reason behind it was the uncovered wickets which used to get exposed to irregular rains during the English summer. As a result, only once until World War II (1940s), a team managed to successfully chase targets in excess of 200 on England soil. This was recorded by the home team in a dramatic fashion in the 1902 Ashes Test that ended on August 13th.

Australia won the 1902 Ashes series in England having taken a lead of 2-0 by the end of the 4th Test. The final Test was hosted by The Oval where Australia batted first and posted 324. England, in reply, were bundled out for 183 but came back fighting to limit the visitors to 121 in the second innings. However, the England win looked quite far as they needed to chase 263 on a last-day pitch.

England’s troubles extended when the Australian left-arm bowler Jack Saunders took the first four wickets. The hosts were reduced to 48/5 with more than 200 runs still to be scored. The Australian win seemed to be a mere formality as in the previous Test, the Aussies won defending a target of 124 despite the English being at 92/3. But Stanley Jackson and Gilbert Jessop didn’t want to leave without a fight.

The duo put on 109 runs for the 6th wicket in only 22 overs as England reached 157/6 in 39 overs. The partnership came to an end with Stanley Jackson scoring 49 off 100 balls. Jessop was the main reason behind England’s fightback as he kept attacking the visiting bowlers with boundaries. The No.7 batsman reached his century in only 76 balls but was dismissed four balls later for 104. Jessop was dismissed at the score of 187/7 while England needed another 76 runs to win.

But George Hirst took the responsibility of the chase with little partnerships with Bill Lockwood and Dick Lilley. The home side was left to chase 15 runs with the last wicket in hand. Hirst and Wilfred Rhodes took 35 balls to score the last 15 runs as England pulled off an unlikely 1-wicket win. George Hirst remained unbeaten on 58 to help the English team to reduce Australia’s series-winning margin to 2-1.