Test cricket is all about time. A Test match can last five days. Teams must play through long sessions, changing conditions, and many ups and downs. But sometimes, a Test match ends very quickly.

That happened again on Sunday, August 23, 2026, when Australia beat Bangladesh by an innings and 51 runs in Mackay. The second Test ended in less than two days. It became only the 28th Test match in history to finish within two days.

So far, teams have played 2,632 Test matches. Only about 1.064% of them have ended within two days.

The Mackay Test is the latest match to join this rare list. The list includes some of the shortest and most surprising Test matches ever played.

The bigger question is where this match ranks by balls bowled. Australia vs Bangladesh in Mackay is the fourth-shortest completed Test match ever, with only 750 balls bowled, according to the dataset used for this ranking. 

Shortest Test match ever: India vs South Africa in Cape Town

The shortest completed Test match ever by balls bowled was the India vs South Africa Test in Cape Town in January 2024.

India won by seven wickets after just 642 balls (107 overs). South Africa scored 55 in their first innings and 176 in their second. India scored 153 and then chased 79 for three. The match ended halfway through the second day. Guinness World Records lists it as the shortest completed Test by overs bowled.

The match also had a crazy first day, with 23 wickets falling. India lost six wickets without scoring a single extra run, falling from 153/4 to 153 all out.

The Mackay Test was also very short, but it had 108 more balls than the 2024 Cape Town Test.

28 Test matches have ended inside two days

Two-day Tests have mostly happened in two periods.

From 1877 to 1946, 15 of the first 275 Tests ended within two days. Then, no Test ended within two days between 1947 and 1999. During those 53 years, teams played 1,233 Tests.

Since 2000, 13 of 1,124 Tests have ended within two days. These include India-Afghanistan in 2018, India-England in 2021, South Africa-India in 2024, and two Australia-England Tests in 2025.

Now, Australia vs Bangladesh has become the 28th two-day Test in history.

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All 28 two-day Test matches in history 

The table shows that two-day Tests and the shortest Tests by balls are not the same thing. A Test can end on its second day but still have more balls than another two-day Test.

Rain and bad weather can also affect the result. The number of days shows how long the match lasted, while the number of balls shows how much cricket was actually played.

Shortest completed Test matches by balls

Here is the ranking that looks at the number of legal balls bowled, as per Cricinfo.  Each over has six legal balls.

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Where does the Mackay Test rank?

Australia vs Bangladesh is best described as the latest two-day Test and the fourth-shortest completed Test by balls. It was not the shortest Test ever.

Mitchell Starc played a big role in the win. He took 6/12 in Bangladesh’s first innings, as they were all out for 64. He took four more wickets in the second innings and finished with 10/51. Australia then won after Bangladesh were bowled out for 95.

The win also made the two-match series 1-1. Bangladesh had won the first Test in Darwin by nine wickets.

For Test cricket, the main point is clear. Twenty-eight Tests have now ended inside two days, but only a few have had very few balls.

With just 750 balls, the Mackay Test came very close to the record.

It is not the shortest Test ever.

But it is now one of the most notable short Tests in cricket history.

What are your thoughts? Which two-day Test match do you think was the most surprising in cricket history? Let us know in the comments. 

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