Tied Matches in Cricket: Rules, History, and the Most Famous Ties in Test and ODI Cricket
How a tied match works in cricket across formats — the two historic tied Tests, famous ODI ties, what happens to points and trophies, and whether a tied match result is genuinely rare or more common than people think.
A tied cricket match — where both teams finish with the exact same score and the match has been completed — is one of cricket's rarest results. It differs from a draw (the most common Test result when time runs out), which requires no particular score relationship. In Tests, only two have ended in a tie in more than 2,000 matches played. In limited-overs cricket, ties are slightly more common and trigger Super Over tiebreakers in ICC tournaments. Understanding the distinction between a tie and a draw, and the history of cricket's most famous ties, reveals how extraordinary a completed all-out tie actually is.
The Two Tied Tests
Only two Test matches in cricket history have ended in a tie: Australia vs West Indies in Brisbane in 1960 — the famous 'Tied Test' — and Australia vs India in Madras (now Chennai) in 1986. The 1960 Brisbane Test, played at the Gabba, ended with Australia needing six runs off eight balls, losing three wickets in the final over with West Indies fast bowler Wes Hall bowling. Off the last ball, Australia's last batter ran, was run out, and both teams had scored 737 runs. The match is regarded as one of the greatest Test matches ever played. The 1986 Madras Test ended with India needing 4 runs off the last ball; Dean Jones scored 210 in heat that required medical attention.
Ties in Limited-Overs Cricket
Ties in limited-overs cricket are more frequent than in Tests but still uncommon — approximately 0.5-1% of ODIs end in a tie before Super Over. A tied ODI occurs when both teams complete their 50 overs on the same score; if no Super Over is played (bilateral series without ICC Super Over requirements), the match is recorded as a tie. In tournament contexts where the Super Over determines the winner, the 'match tied, won Super Over' result is more common than a pure tied result. The 2019 World Cup final is the only instance of both a match and a Super Over ending in a tie in a major ICC final.
Frequently asked questions
Why have only two Tests tied in 140+ years of Test cricket, given that it seems mathematically plausible for more to happen — is the rarity of tied Tests genuinely surprising statistically?
The rarity of tied Tests is statistically explainable once you account for how Tests actually end, and the calculation shows that two ties in 2,000+ Tests is roughly in line with statistical expectation given the distribution of match results. Why Tests rarely end in a tie: a Test can end in three ways — result (win/loss via all out or declaration), draw (time expires), or tie (both innings completed, equal score). Most Tests end in draws or results. Of the Tests that end in results (where scores are completed), the probability that they end in an exact equal-score tie depends on how 'close' scores typically are at the end. The mathematics: if the final margin of a result is approximately uniformly distributed from 1 run to, say, 200 runs, the probability of a tie (zero runs difference) would be roughly 1 in 200 of all result matches — about 0.5%. With perhaps 1,000-1,200 Tests ending in results (rather than draws), that gives an expected 5-6 tied Tests, higher than the actual two. This suggests ties are rarer than the simple math predicts. Why fewer than expected: Tests that get to the final stages (close results) tend to have the fielding side bowling at a known target — the batting side knows how many they need. This 'known target' effect means the batting side either gets there or doesn't, but the final score is often not a single run. Bowling sides attack when they have wickets; batting sides attack when they need few runs. These dynamics push results to 5+ run margins rather than 0-4. The 'feel' of rarity: the two tied Tests feel rarer than they are because the preconditions required (last wicket, last few overs, single-run margins) are genuinely stressful matches, so they're both memorable and discussed repeatedly — amplifying the sense that they're more extraordinary than the probability alone would suggest.