England foray into Day/Night Test cricket

West Indies take on England in the first ever Day/Night Test in the UK at a time when Test cricket is looking for relevance and context because of lop-sided results across the world. It will be the fifth D/N Test in history with Australia having played three and won three and West Indies losing the one they played against Pakistan in Dubai. England are yet to feature in a Day/Night Test.TOI takes a look at the four matches that have been played so far under lights.
Match 1 (Adelaide, November 2015): Australia (224 and 187-7) bt New Zealand (202 and 208) by three wickets
The Kiwis batted first and Tom Latham scored a half-century but New Zealand managed just 202. Australia too did not do well and were bowled out for 224. But they had strong lower order contributions from Peter Nevill (66) and Nathan Lyon (34) and Mitchell Starc (24no). The game-breaking performance though came from Josh Hazlewood who took six wickets when the Kiwis batted for the second time. Chasing 187, the Aussies found the seam and swing of Trent Boult (5-60) too hot to handle and were reduced to 115-4, but the Marsh brothers, Shaun (49) and Mitchell (28) took them close before getting dismissed and it was left to Peter Siddle and an injured Mitchell Starc to take the hosts home.
Match 2 (Dubai, October 2016) Pakistan (579-3 declared and 123) beat West Indies (357 and 289) by 56 runs
Unlike Adelaide, it was the batsmen who dominated in this game. Azhar Ali didn't just become the first centurion in a pink ball Test, he made it big and converted it into a triple hundred. The pink ball is supposed to be unkind to spinners, but leggie Yasir Shah had no trouble with it and got a five-for. His feat was bettered by counterpart Devenda Bishoo, who scalped 8-49 to give the Windies a realistic chance of chasing down 346.
Darren Bravo anchored the chase with a polished 116, but with West Indies still 83 runs away, he lobbed a return catch to Yasir and that opened the floodgates as the remaining three wickets were consumed soon.
Match 3 (Adelaide, November 2016) Australia (383 and 123-7) beat South Africa (259-9 declared and 250) by seven wickets.
Adelaide's second D/N Test and a game which saw the Aussies revive their fortunes after surrendering the series. That Test had drama aplenty as South Africa captain Faf du Plessis was booed after being alleged of ball tampering in the second Test at Hobart after footage showed that he had used a sweet to shine the ball. He was found guilty and under the new code of conduct copped three demerit points and copped a 100 per cent fine of his match fee. He put mind over matter to score a gutsy, unbeaten 118 though. He also declared on Day 1 before his team was all out to make the Aussies face 12 overs under lights. It did not work though. Usman Khawaja struck a terrific 145 in Australia's 383.
South Africa found a gritty opener in Stephen Cook who resisted for a patient 104, but barring Hashim Amla (45), no other batsman contributed as the Proteas were bowled out for 250. The target of 123 was never going to test the Aussies and once David Warner struck a buccaneering 47, the result was never in doubt.
Game 4 (Brisbane, December 2016) - Australia (429 and 202-5 declared) beat Pakistan (142 and 450) by 39 runs
Australian Test cricket remained in the pink of health with their third day-night win when they beat Pakistan in a close contest. Australia batted first and Steve Smith's 130 helped them to post 429. Pakistan were bundled out for 142, but Smith chose to bat on and declared at 202-5. In the second innings, Pakistan put on a better show and Asad Shafiq's 137 should never have come in a losing cause. Pakistan were chasing down a world record 490 and were reduced to 220 for 6. Shafiq was playing a masterly hand though and he received good support from Mohammad Amir (48), Wahab Riaz (30) and Yasir Shah (33). He gave a catch to David Warner at gully when the Pakistanis were 41 runs away from victory and that effectively was game, set and match and the Aussies didn't waste time to seal the last scalp for the addition of just two runs more.