The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

The three most influential last-ball dramas of recent times

Autoplay in... 6 (Cancel)
Up Next No more videos! Playlist is empty -
Replay
Cancel
Next
Roar Guru
5th October, 2018
0

The recently concluded Asia Cup in UAE had a dramatic finish, as India clinched a last ball victory in the final against Bangladesh.

This is the third time within the last three years the Tigers have lost a limited overs match against India on the final delivery. This is also their third defeat in three finals of the Asia cup two of those coming after last ball drama.

Of course, the last ball dramas are not rare in cricket. In fact, a book can be written on this – perhaps reserving one chapter to the underarm saga. Here, I have selected three dramatic finishes from the early days of ODI cricket.

All three have interesting consequences the first one led to rule changes, the second basically introduced a new venue to the cricketing map and the final one can just be described as a comedy of errors – both in part of the players as well as the umpires.

England vs West Indies (28th November, 1979, SCG)
England 8/211, Wes Indies 196 (47 overs – target 199 due to rain)

After the West Indies were set a target of 199 from 47 overs, they reached 196/9 with one ball remaining. Strong top order batting initially gave Windies the edge but then ‘deadly’ Derek Underwood ran through the middle order – taking 4/44.

As Ian Botham prepared to bowl the last delivery, big Colin Croft was at the striker’s end (with even bigger Joel Garner at the other end). Croft didn’t have any great potential as a batsman but Mike Brearley, the England captain, decided to take no risks.

There were no field restrictions applicable at that time and Brearley put all his fielders, including wicketkeeper David Bairstow, on the fence in a bid to stop any boundary hit. Obviously, he was doing nothing against the law, but the crowd was not amused.

Advertisement

Brearley’s test captaincy record against Australia prior to this tour read eight wins, one loss and two draws, so the Aussie cricket fans didn’t exactly revere him.

There were boos all round as Botham started his run up and, after all the drama, it became a kind of anti-climax as Croft was bowled to ensure a two-run victory for England.

The field restrictions were introduced in the very next season to restrict the number of boundary fielders.

Also at the time, in case of rain interruption, the target was set using a direct proportion method; no consideration was given to nullify the advantage gained by the batting side due to the reduced number of overs.

This rule took a long time to be changed and it was only after a few experiments that the authorities introduced the Duckworth-Lewis system.

Pakistan vs India (18th April, 1986, Sharjah)
India 7/245, Pakistan 9/248

Again, the last pair was at the wicket for the last delivery but at the striker’s end was arguably Pakistan’s best ever batsman; Javed Miandad.

Advertisement

As he faced Chetan Shama, his team needed four runs for a victory. Javed’s batting technique in limited overs games was way ahead of his time. He was not afraid to try unorthodox shots to upset the best bowlers of the world.

No such innovation was needed here, however, as Chetan barely out of his teens, lost his nerves and bowled a full toss in line of the leg stump which was promptly dispatched for a six to ensure a famous victory for the Pakistani team.

In the post-match analysis, many questions were raised as to why Kapil Dev didn’t bowl the final over himself.

But, for all the drama involved, India really lost the match in the final overs of their own innings as they slumped from 1/216 to 7/245. They failed to take advantage of the slog overs as Imran Khan and Wasim Akram bowled Yorkers and low full tosses at 90 miles per hour with excellent effect.

So, Pakistan were the winners of this match, but the biggest winner was Sharjah cricket. This match brought the new venue of international cricket into the limelight and, over the next decade or so, India-Pakistan matches at Sharjah became major highlights of cricketing calendar.

Sadly, match fixing allegations in the second half of the 1990’s badly dented the image of Sharjah cricket.

India vs Pakistan (20th March, 1987, Hyderabad)
India 212/6 (44 overs), Pakistan 212/7 (India was the winner for losing fewer wickets)

Advertisement

Watching modern day cricket, I often feel certain things are just set ups – often the road to dramatic finishes appear pre-determined.

If this particular match was a set up, then whoever did it did a brilliant job it was just a classic comedy of errors.

In India’s innings, Pakistan bowled only 44 overs in their allotted three and a half hours as the hosts reached 6/212, recovering somewhat from an early morning collapse.

In reply, Pakistan looked well on course with Saleem Malik setting the pace. Pakistan needed two from the final delivery, with big hitting Manzoor Elahi facing Kapil.

Abdul Qadir the charismatic leggie was at the non-striker’s end. The Pakistan batsmen ran a comfortable single, but then Qadir turned for the second. He was sent back but couldn’t beat the throw by Mohammad Azharuddin from square leg and was run out.

Watching on TV, I thought that the match had ended in a tie, but India was declared the winner.

The rules were specific but complicated. If two teams had same the same score, then the team which had lost fewer wickets would be the winner.

Advertisement

If Qadir wasn’t run out, both teams would have lost the same number of the wickets. In that case, the team who scored more runs in the first 25 overs would have been the winner which, in this case, would have resulted in a Pakistan victory.

So basically, a single was enough for Pakistan to win the match – albeit with the help of the rules. The Qadir run out, of course, changed the result completely.

But the story didn’t end there. I recently learned from a highly reputed cricket website that, as Kapil bowled the last delivery, India had three, not four, men inside the 30-yard circle so it should have been a no ball. Thus, the umpires also played their part in the comedy.

Finally, some Pakistan supporters were trying to present the theory that Qadir knew the rules perfectly and, after taking the single fully assured about his team’s victory, he was actually running to congratulate Manzoor. To me, this appeared as a nice theory but the authorities were not impressed enough.

This was a rare success for India over their arch rivals at that time. Throughout the second half of the 1980’s the Pakistanis totally dominated this fixture, and they won the 1987 series 5-1.

close