Explainers
Win, draw or tie: how a Test match ends
A Test can end four ways. The difference between a draw and a tie surprises many newer fans.
Test matches are played over up to five days, with each side batting twice. They end in one of four ways.
- A win by an innings, by runs or by wickets.
- A draw when time runs out before one side has taken ten wickets in each innings it needs, or has scored the runs required.
- A tie, which is very rare: the scores finish level with the fourth innings complete.
- No result, in the unusual case that a match is abandoned without a full outcome.
Follow-on and declarations
A captain may declare an innings closed to leave enough time to bowl the opposition out. A side that trails by a large margin on first innings can be asked to follow on, batting again straight away. In five-day Tests the lead needed for that is 200 runs.