10 days, 1,981 runs, no winner: In the longest-ever Test, England were 42 runs from victory vs South Africa when a ship to home forced a draw

In an era when a Test match can be over in three or four days, it is almost impossible to imagine a game continuing for 10 days. But in 1939, England and South Africa played a Test with no time limit. It lasted 43 hours and 16 minutes, produced 1,981 runs, and still did not have a winner.The reason the match finally ended? England had a ship to catch.When Test matches had no time limitTest cricket has always been about patience. Today, five days is considered the ultimate examination, but there was a time when Test matches were played until there was a winner. The most extraordinary example came in Durban, South Africa, in March 1939. It became known as the “Timeless Test” and remains the longest Test match ever played.England were touring South Africa for a five-Test series. With England leading 1-0 going into the final Test, the teams agreed that the match would be played to a finish, without a fixed time limit. The game began at Kingsmead on 3 March 1939, with South Africa choosing to bat.South Africa bat for nearly three daysOn a pitch that offered little assistance to the bowlers, South Africa batted for almost three days and made 530. Pieter van der Bijl scored 125 and Dudley Nourse made 103, with South Africa's first innings taking around 13 hours of playing time. England replied with 316, giving South Africa a 214-run lead.A 696-run target for EnglandSouth Africa had the option of enforcing the follow-on but chose to bat again. Captain Alan Melville's side added another 481 runs, leaving England with a massive target of 696. England began their fourth innings on 9 March. With no time limit, there was no need to panic. And slowly, the impossible started to look possible.Bill Edrich produced a magnificent 219, while Gerry Gibb scored 120. Then England captain Wally Hammond added 140. England kept batting, kept scoring and kept eating into the enormous target. Eventually, they reached 654/5. They needed just 42 more runs to win. After 10 days of play, England were suddenly on the verge of completing one of the greatest fourth-innings chases in Test history. Then came the rain.The timeless Test finally ran out of timeRain had already interrupted the match several times, but the pitch repeatedly recovered well enough for play to continue. On 14 March, England resumed with victory within reach. Hammond was dismissed for 140 and, with the score at 654/5, rain stopped play again. England needed only 42 runs. But the problem was no longer the weather.It was the calendar. England had a train and a ship to catch England's tour had already been planned around their journey home. The team had to travel from Durban to Cape Town by train, where they were due to board the Athlone Castle for the voyage back to Britain on 17 March.The “Timeless Test” might have had no cricketing deadline, but England's travel arrangements did. There was no realistic way for the match to continue indefinitely. The captains eventually agreed to end the game. England were left stranded at 654/5, just 42 runs short of victory.The match was declared a draw. 10 days, 1,981 runs and no winner The match took place across 12 calendar days, with 10 days of actual play. It remains the longest Test match in men's cricket history, according to Guinness World Records.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.