Cricket matches that ended in most unusual ways

• Australia's 1981 underarm bowling led to a ban on the tactic.
• A flawed 1992 World Cup rain rule denied South Africa a semi-final.
• In 2000, Hansie Cronje's innings forfeit was later linked to betting.

Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties, but sometimes its conclusions go beyond a simple win or loss into the realm of the truly bizarre. These are the matches that didn't just end; they created legends, controversies, and changed the rules.

The Underarm That Sparked Outrage

Picture this: it's 1981, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and New Zealand needs six runs off the final ball to tie a one-day international against Australia. A six is a tall order, but not impossible. Australian captain Greg Chappell, however, decided to leave nothing to chance. He instructed his younger brother, Trevor, to bowl the final delivery underarm. The ball rolled along the ground to batsman Brian McKechnie, who could only block it defensively before throwing his bat away in disgust. While technically legal at the time, the act was universally condemned as a violation of the spirit of the game. It was a cynical, gamesman-like move that ensured Australia won but at a significant cost to their reputation. The backlash was so immense that underarm bowling was promptly banned in limited-overs cricket, making this infamous delivery the last of its kind.

A World Cup Dream Washed Away by Math

South Africa’s return to international cricket was a fairytale story at the 1992 World Cup. They played with a vibrant, attacking style that won hearts and matches, taking them all the way to a semi-final against England. Chasing 253 for a place in the final, they were on the cusp of a famous victory, needing just 22 runs from 13 balls. But then, the Sydney rain came down. When play resumed after a short delay, the cricketing world watched in horror as the scoreboard flashed the revised target: 22 runs from 1 ball. The tournament’s controversial rain rule, which calculated the revised target by subtracting the runs scored in the opposition's least productive overs, had produced a mathematical absurdity. The once-thrilling contest ended in a farce, with South Africa’s dream drowned not by the weather itself, but by a deeply flawed regulation.

The First-Ever Tied Test Match

For the first 83 years of Test cricket, there were only two possible results: a win for one side, or a draw. That all changed in December 1960 in Brisbane, during a pulsating match between Australia and the West Indies. The game ebbed and flowed for five days, setting up a nail-biting finish. In the final, chaotic over of the match, Australia needed just a few runs with three wickets in hand. What followed was a frenzy of action, including three wickets falling in that single over, two of them from dramatic run-outs. With the scores level, the last Australian batsman was run out scrambling for the winning run off the second-to-last ball. The result was a tie—the first in Test history. It remains one of the rarest outcomes in the sport and a perfect example of a match where neither side deserved to lose.

The Test Match Forfeited for Entertainment

When rain washed out three full days of the final Test between South Africa and England at Centurion in 2000, a dull draw seemed inevitable. South Africa had already won the series, and there was little to play for. But then, South African captain Hansie Cronje approached his English counterpart, Nasser Hussain, with a radical proposal: both teams should forfeit an innings to manufacture a result on the final day. It was an unprecedented move in Test history. England agreed, were set a target of 249, and went on to win a thrilling match by two wickets. It was initially hailed as an act of brilliant, selfless sportsmanship to entertain the fans. However, the story took a dark turn months later when it was revealed that Cronje's offer was prompted by a bookmaker to avoid losses on a drawn match, forever tainting what at first appeared to be one of cricket’s most inventive finishes.