West Indies concede a record 68 extras in an innings against Pakistan

Kensington Oval used to be a Caribbean fortress in the past. Unfortunately, it did not quote work out well for their pacemen and Deryck Murray that day.

When sundries made news

Sadiq fell to Croft soon next morning, but Majid and Haroon Rasheed did some consolidation, and though Majid fell after a while things look under control with Rasheed and Mushtaq still there at 102 for 2. Then Roberts ran through Rasheed s defence.

Five runs later, Croft clean bowled Asif; then went Mushtaq as a Roberts delivery took the edge and thudded into Murray s gloves; young Javed Miandad did not last, and neither did Imran. Holder s absence was not felt as Lloyd kept on rotating Roberts, Garner, and Croft with clinical efficiency and reduced the visitors to 158 for nine: they were only 172 runs ahead.

Then suddenly all went wrong. Line and length went awry; poor Murray dived around but there was little he could do, so erratic the bowlers were; the big men overstepped a lot; catches went down (Raja hero of the first innings was dropped four times); and somehow, somehow, Raja and Bari hung on. The more the extras piled up, the more furious the bowlers became, and more wayward.

Both Wasims settled down, and then the runs started flowing, off the bat or otherwise. The partnership moved along, and did so at an alarming pace. Raja reached his fifty, but more significantly, Bari reached there as well, and the partnership added 133 in 110 minutes (then a new Pakistan last-wicket record stand) before Raja was eventually caught by Garner off Foster: his 71 had included 5 fours and 2 sixes, while Bari s unbeaten 60 had ten fours in it.

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Amidst all this, unknowingly, West Indies managed to register the rather humiliating world record of conceding the most extras in an innings, going past England s feat of 57 extras against New Zealand at Eden Park in 1929-30. The record has been bettered thrice since then:

Most extras in an innings
Extras	Culprits	Beneficiaries	Venue	Season
76	India	Pakistan	Chinnaswamy	2007-08
74	England	West Indies	Queen's Park Oval	2008-09
71	West Indies	Pakistan	Bourda	1988
68	West Indies	Pakistan	Kensington Oval	1976-77
65	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe	Harare	1994-95

However, in terms of extras as a percentage of the total innings, the West Indian performance on that day has no match. In fact, they seem to be peerless in this aspect, hogging the top three spots.

Highest percentage of runs by extras in an innings (50 or more extras)
Extras	Total	%	Culprits	Beneficiaries	Venue	Season
68	291	23.4%	West Indies	Pakistan	Kensington Oval	1976-77
53	248	21.4%	West Indies	Australia	Bourda	1990-91
52	252	20.6%	West Indies	England	Trent Bridge	1980
65	319/8	20.3%	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe	Harare	1994-95
55	288	19.1%	Pakistan	India	Faisalabad	1989-90

What about balls per extra, then? The West Indians conceded 68 extras in 67 overs easily a record till now.

Most balls bowled per extra conceded in an innings (50 or more extras)
Extras	Balls	Balls / extra	Team	Opposition	Ground	Start Date
68	402	5.91	Pakistan	West Indies	Bridgetown	1976-77
50	411	8.22	Australia	England	The Oval	1934
62	628	10.13	South Africa	Sri Lanka	Johannesburg	2001-02
71	732	10.31	Pakistan	West Indies	Georgetown	1988
60	620	10.33	England	West Indies	Kingston	2003-04

The afters

Chasing 306, Gordon Greenidge fell early, but Fredericks and Richards hung around gamely, adding 130 for the second wicket. Mushtaq slowed down the pace, and once Fredericks got frustrated and lost his wicket trying to go for the chase the collapse started: backed up efficiently by Saleem Altaf, Imran and Sarfraz then tore into the West Indian line-up. Wickets kept tumbling, and West Indies suddenly found themselves down at 217 for 8 with half-an-hour and 20 mandatory overs left.

Holder eventually had to show up, and had to keep the fast bowlers at bay in an extremely level-headed display against the fast bowlers. Mushtaq must have rued the absence of a fourth fast bowler; he tried Miandad s leg-breaks, but with no success. Then, finally, with less than an hour left, Imran ran through Holder s defence.

Croft walked out; Mushtaq tried everything; the hawks moved closer and closer to the bat as the shadows lengthened; but Roberts and Croft were inseparable. Finally, when stumps were called, West Indies finished on 251 for 9: the Test was saved.

On a side note, they remained 55 short of the target 13 less than the number of extras they had conceded.

What followed?

- Pakistan were beaten black and blue by Croft in the second Test at Queen s Park Oval. Bowling with menacing pace he picked up 8 for 29 still the best figures by a West Indian fast bowler; Fredericks batted with panache in each innings and West Indies won by 6 wickets.

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- The fast bowlers skittled Pakistan for 194 at Bourda, but they came back strongly after conceding a 254-run lead: Majid led the way with 167 and Pakistan registered 540, which meant that the Test resulted in a draw.

- The fourth Test at Queen s Park Oval saw an amazing fightback from Pakistan: after Mushtaq Mohammad s 121 and Majid s 92 took Pakistan to 341 some excellent bowling from Imran and Mushtaq restricted the hosts to 154. Set to chase 489, the hosts collapsed to 222.

- With all to play for the teams moved to Sabina Park, and Greenidge settled matters with innings of 100 and 82. Croft once again bowled with fire, and barring Asif s 135 there was not much resistance: West Indies won by 140 runs to clinch the series.

(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Deputy Editor and Cricket Historian at CricketCountry. He blogs at http://ovshake.blogspot.in and can be followed on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ovshake42)