Women's ODI #1906: South Africa vs India, Kimberely
By having Laura Wolvaardt caught behind, Jhulan Goswami became the first women cricketer to reach the landmark of 200 ODI wickets. And this was achieved in her 166th match.
Coincidentally, compatriot Kapil Dev was the first male cricketer to reach the 200 wicket mark, also in his 166th match!
A video of Kapil Dev taking his 200th wicket! This was way back in the 80s and yet wasn't able to find a video of yesterday's game!
India play their 500th Test match at Kanpur against the Kiwis. Could have been just another game but cricket (and its fans) love statistics. So becomes one of the most significant games in India's Test history. To celebrate this milestone, its time to pick up an XI of India's most memorable moments in the Test arena.
Disclaimer - The memories are the ones which happened on my watch. So all are post 1989 or as we cricket tragics mark the event, after Sachin Tendulkar's debut.
The greatest turnaround in the history of the game at one of its greatest centers against an all-conquering Australian side who were treating the series as the "Final Frontier". They were well on their way to achieve their goal till they were stopped in their tracks by VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid. The 4th day's play was not just match or series turning, it permanently instilled a belief in all Indian fans that miracles do happen.
By itself it would be remembered as one of our greatest victories. India chased down 387 with Sachin Tendulkar hitting the winning runs after Sehwag had given a turbo-powered start to the chase. But then it wasn't just any other game, being played in the aftermath of the horrific Mumbai attacks. Sometimes sport can provide just that bit of healing touch to a whole nation.
Rahul Dravid hitting the winning runs on the 5th day. An image firmly etched in the memories of the Indian fan. Australia had scored big, but they ran into a pair of familiar foes. The Dravid-VVS combo ensured that both teams are on equal footing after the first innings. And then the much maligned Ajit Agarkar produced his best spell of Test match bowling to knock out the Australians. And he was there at the other end with Dravid to see it through to the end.
On a green pitch, India chose to bat first and the English team had the absolute privilege of being the only team to witness centuries from Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly in the same innings. And they followed it by slumping to an innings defeat against the spin duo of Kumble & Harbhajan on a green top.
A match India lost on the field but where on-field incidents spilled over threatening diplomatic relations. Players were called over for investigations by international judges into racial abuse. There were umpiring controversies galore and accusations of cheating. Questions were raised on the very spirit of the game. The Australians seemed rattled as Anil Kumble declared that "there was only one team playing in the spirit of the game", reminding them of Bodyline time. It was ugly. And after all that the Indians bounced back to win the next one at Perth. Karma. Probably.
S. Sreesanth, one of the biggest enigmas of Indian cricket. A freakish talent which went to waste. Amongst his achievements, the one stand-out would be to shut up Andre Nel. And he did it in his own maverick style. Hits a six, runs off to the other end and then starts... dancing!!! Leaving Nel bemused and everyone else rolling in laughter. And he also picked up 8 wickets in the game to win India's first ever Test victory in South Africa.
The match had it all. India's first Test victory in Pakistan. Sehwag establishing his legendary status by hitting India's first ever Test triple. And Dravid declaring with Sachin batting at 194. Something which the stat-hungry Indian fan could not get his head around. But all's well that ends well.
8. Kapil Dev's Blitzkrieg off Eddie Hemmings, Lords, 1990
You need 24 runs to avoid the follow-on. And you have a genuine number 11 for company at the other end. So what do you do? If you are Kapil Dev, you take matters into your own hand and just hammer 4 consecutive sixes. And Hirwani at the other end promptly got out the very next ball. Couldn't prevent a defeat but it was heroic. Personally, me missed out following most of Kapil Dev's glorious career and only remember the dragged out ending in pursuit of Hadlee's Test record.
9. Kumble's Perfect 10, Kotla, 1999
On a pitch which had been dug up a few weeks before, Anil Kumble produced one of those freakish spells of bowling, taking out all 10 Pakistani wickets in the 2nd innings and squaring up the series. And wiping off some of the bad memories of the previous game at Chennai.
10. The Chennai heart-break, 1999
One of the heart-breaking results for an Indian fan. Sachin Tendulkar nearly pulled off a 4th innings chase all by himself. But the tail could not finish up the job. India were left 12 short off what would have been a sensational victory against arch-rivals Pakistan.
11. Bludgeoned in Bridgetown, 1997
For an Indian fan, the 90s were really tough to watch, especially when India was playing abroad. We just couldn't get an overseas test victory (not even in Zimbabwe). So when India got a target of 120 against West Indies, it seemed the elusive overseas victory would be finally achieved. But the pace trio of Ambrose, Bishop and Rose had other plans as India were blown away for 81. That overseas victory would have to wait a few more years.
And the 12th Man. The Test that wasn't, Centurion, 2001
Two full-strength national sides taking on each other in a five day clash played under Test match conditions but not being called a Test match. The aftermath of the Mike Denness affair had led to India lodging a protest. ICC did not withdraw the referee. So India and South Africa got a different referee. ICC removed Test status from the game (but it was still a first class game). This could have been Dravid's captaincy debut. And for poor Connor Willaims, this was his only match for India and could have been his debut. He never payed another international. And the Kanpur Test would have been India's 501st.
And the ones which did not make to the list - Irfan Pathan's first over hat-trick against Pakistan, Sehwag's 293 against Sri Lanka, Zaheer Khan's jellybean incident, Kumble bowling with a broken jaw, Dravid's Sabina Park exploits, Harbhajan's 2001 series. And many, many more.
Hopefully many more will come in over the coming years.
The World Cup fever is now finally getting on. While we wait for the real thing to start on February the 14th, its time to reminisce about the World Cups gone by. And here is me indulging in some typical fanboy hobby of picking a Fantasy XI. Following is my selection of the Greatest XI from the ICC Cricket World Cups. (Link)
The selections have been made on the following criterion.
World Cup performances - multiple World Cups count more.
Being a World Cup winner. Hence no South Africans or Kiwis or English players
Special performances have more weightage
Now based on these criterion, following is my Greatest World Cup XI in batting order.
Sachin Tendulkar - (winner 2011) most World Cup runs and consistent across tournaments. It would have been blasphemous for an Indian not to include him in such an XI. Also a handy bowler.
Adam Gilchrist (wk) - (winner 1999, 2003, 2007) the greatest keeper-batsman of all time across formats. Also provides a left-right opening combination with Tendulkar. And a gentleman who walked even in the World Cup semi-finals.
Ricky Ponting - (winner 1999, 2003, 2007) and once runner-up. Also the man to have played the most World Cup games. And that 140 in 2003 final in Johannesburg to knock India out (a sad moment for Indian fans but still I pick him)
Viv Richards - (winner 1975, 1979) The original master blaster. Could change games single handedly, not just with the bat but also with the ball.
Aravinda de Silva - (winner 1996) The key player in the 1996 winning campaign for Sri Lanka, was declared the Man of the Match in both the semis and the finals. Another handy spinner.
Clive Lloyd (c) - (winner 1975, 1979). Excellent leader, superb batsman and a good fielder. He is in as captain of the team.
Kapil Dev - (winner 1983) Fast bowling all-rounder whom India is still to replace. He walks in to the team just on the basis of that 175.
Imran Khan - (winner 1992) The man could walk into any team either as batsman or a bowler or just a captain. After all he inspired the maverick Pakistanis to a World Cup victory from a seemigly hopeless situation.
Wasim Akram - (winner 1992) The two stump seeking yorkers to break the back of the English chase in the 1992 final. Also undoubtedly the greatest left arm pace bowler of all time. And handy with the bat.
Shane Warne - (winner 1999) The best leg-spinner. Very good at most times but excellent at the biggest stage. The ball to get rid of the Herchelle Gibbs in 1999 semis in That match.
Glenn McGrath - (winner 1999, 2003, 2007) retired after collecting the most wickets in a single World Cup and being declared the player of the tournament.
So thats my Greatest World Cup XI. 6 batsman who can all maintain a more than handy run-rate, 5 bowlers, 4 fast bowlers including a left handed one, 2 all-rounders, 1 leg-spinner, 1 wicket-keeper, a left-right opening combination, 3 more than handy part-time spinners and some superb fielders. The batting order seems settled. But not sure who will be the new ball operators. After all these are men who made the ball not just talk but could make it recite poetry if they wanted.
The big event did not take place at the Wankhede today but another very rare event did take place.
R. Ashwin scored a century to follow with his Michelle becoming only the 3rd Indian ever to do so. The two prior ones being historic legends Vinoo Mankad & Polly Umrigar. (Pretty sure a five wicket haul wouldn't have been referred to as a Michelle then, Michelle Pfeiffer not having been born :P). Surprised to see Kapil Dev missing from that list. Full list of such happenings is here (Thank you Statsguru).
More Arbit Stats - India & West Indies batsmen have combined to score 11 50+ scores in the 2 innings between them, which is a new record for most 50+ scores. Here is the Statsguru evidence.
And also the 1st time ever all the top 6 batsman on both sides have scored a quarter century. Talk about a batting beauty.
First time in 10 World Cups both India and New Zealand have made it to the semi-finals. So far it had been either New Zealand (1975, 1979, 1992, 1999, 2007) or India (1983, 1987, 1996, 2003) but never both together.
The result also continues the trend of India & South Africa reaching alternate semi-finals since 1992 (South Africa's readmission year). 1992 (SA), 1996 (India), 1999 (SA), 2003 (India), 2007 (SA) and now 2011 (India).
South Africa yet to win a World Cup knockout match while New Zealand win their first in 6 attempts.
Now for the World Cup Thoughts
Choke is an overused word when describing South Africa's performance. Asphyxiation is a nice alternate term (though sounds quite technical)
First prediction which came unstuck. Though the disclaimer had been put (about the choking business).
The old saying "Catches win matches" never seemed truer than today. Oram's catch to dismiss Kallis was strangely reminiscent of Kapil Dev's catch to dismiss Richards in the 1983 final. (Aside, Have seen the highlights of that game so often that the events of the game have become a part of memories).
