DATE : 18-11-1993
VENUE : Nehru Stadium, Indore
MATCH : C.A.B. Jubilee Tournament (Hero Cup), 1993/94, 7th Match
Writer : B.V.Swagath
The cricketing year of 1993/94 is something to cherish about for the Indian Cricket fans. This year marked the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of the Cricket Association of Bengal. The tournament was played during the month of November, thus adding more DHAMAKA to already what was the Festival of Lights. It was initially supposed to be a six-nation tournament, but Pakistan had to pull out because of some unavoidable circumstances. So the tournament was thus reduced to a five-nation (India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe) on a round robin league format.
India won this tournament in an emphatic fashion beating West Indies in the jam-packed Eden Gardens. But we are not going to talk about the final match at the Eden Gardens, but instead relive the 7th match of the tournament with a strong Indian team taking on the babes of International Cricket – Zimbabwe. Nehru Stadium, Indore was the venue for this game and the two captains were Md.Azharuddin and Andy Flower. Zimbabwe won the toss and put India to bat first. India brought Pravin Amre in the XI, dropping Delhi all-rounder – Ajay Sharma. India were playing their second game of the tournament, the first match they had won convincingly against Sri Lanka. Zimbabwe were in for their second match too, but this was the first match they were actually in action; the first match for them against South Africa was abandoned due to bad weather.
Left arm opening bowler, David Brain created tremors in the Indian Dressing room by dismissing Wookeri Raman for a duck and India at 6/1. But Prabhakar and Vinod Kambli prevented any further damage and started to bring the innings to a shape. Manoj Prabhakar was as always solid in his defence and Kambli was doing his part well, though the two batsmen really didn’t go after the bowling. Off spinner Stephen Peall, got Zimbabwe the much-needed breakthrough ending the 128 run stand for the 2nd wicket as Kambli was caught by John Rennie in the outfield. Vinod Kambli scored 55 from 96 balls with just 1 boundary. Wicket Keeper-Batsman, Vijay Yadav was given a promotion in the batting order ahead of Azhar, Tendulkar, Amre and Kapil. But Yadav failed to live to the plans and perished to Peall for a duck. India were in at a shaky 128/3, but some good batting still left. Skipper, Azharuddin joined Prabhakar and the two reconstructed the innings with ease. Prabhakar, was however unlucky to have missed out on a 100, as he got foxed by the Offie Stephen Peall, who picked up his 3rd wicket by now. Prabhakar played a valuable innings of 91 after facing 126 balls and 4 hits to the ropes. India were now 197/4 and the slogs were on. It was high gear for the Indians, as Azhar and the sensational Sachin decided to go berserk and the poor Zimbabweans were obviously at the receiving end. Tendulkar scored a quick cameo of 24 from 16 balls with 1 four and 1 six. India ended their innings at 248/5 with Azhar on an unbeaten 54 (56 balls) with 4 fours and a six. For Zimbabwe, Off Spinner, Stephen Peall was the most successful bowler with 3/54 in his allotted quota of 10 overs.
India needed to take early wickets if at all they had any hopes of evading a defeat in the hands of the Babes in International Cricket. Prabhakar just proved how important he is in the team by following his 91 runs with the wicket of Grant Flower with Zimbabwe at 10/1. Left hander, Alistair Campbell was the second to return to the hut after being cleaned up by a quick delivery from Javagal Srinath. Former captain, Dave Houghton joined his skipper Andy Flower and the Zimbabwean innings was getting back on the track. Dave Houghton, was especially aggressive after striking 3 4s and a six, but his innings got to an end thanks to the pony tailed Kapil Dev, who trapped him in front of the stumps. Zimbabwe were back in deep waters at a score of 67/3. Waller joined his skipper Andy Flower and the two Andrews put on a fighting stand of 64 before Zimbabwe lost its skipper for 56. Off Spinner Rajesh Chauhan took the crucial wicket and Vijay Yadav effected a smart stumping. Andy Flower scored 56 (82 balls with 6 4s) and very soon Waller joined him back in the hut leaving Zimbabwe at 143/5.
Guy Whittal and Omarshah, took the attack to the Indians and took charge of the game. Zimbabwe were getting closer to the victory with the score at 207/5. But then came the turning point of the match as Guy Whittal was run out in a sensational fashion. What followed was a procession of wickets, Srinath got Omarshah to hold onto Rajesh Chauhan with the score at 208/7. Whittal scored 33 but the real danger man for India was Omarshah, who scored a rollicking 37 from 31 balls with 4 4s. Prabhakar took the wicket of David Brain and Zimbabwe were almost over at 212/8. But Peall hit a couple of important boundaries and with Streak had a spirited partnership of 25 runs and Zimbabwe were inching towards a dramatic victory. Another twist followed in the script as Srinath forced Stephen Peall to edge one behind the wicket to Vijay Yadav. John Rennie shocked everyone with his batting and along with Streak almost took Zimbabwe home. But with most of the close finishes, a run out is the climax and this match was no exception. India held their nerves and effected a dramatic run out in the last ball of the match as John Rennie fell short of his ground and Zimbabwe fell short of the target by 1 run. Srinath was the most successful bowler with 3/44 from his 10 overs. Manoj Prabhakar, one of my favourite cricketers at one time, was rightly awarded the Man of The Match for his 91 and 2 crucial wickets.
This was the first and is the only Tied ODI witnessed in India, says the Cricketfundas.com’s Statistician. Hope that you have relived the memories of this fantastic match and looking forward to your company in the remaining matches of our ‘AND IT’S A TIE’.