Published: Nov 09, 2012, 01:34 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 13, 2014, 03:02 AM (IST)
Richard Hadlee… 9-52 and 6-71 with the ball, and a knock of 54 off 45 balls as the icing on the cake © Getty Images
By Karthik Parimal
Three decades ago, international cricket featured some of the greatest all-rounders ever, whose presence elevated cricket of that era to exceptional heights. Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev and Richard Hadlee could single-handedly win a game with the bat or ball. While there were other stalwarts in Pakistan, India and England, New Zealand depended heavily on Hadlee.
November 9, 1985 was once such instance when Hadlee annihilated Australia at Brisbane to finish the innings with astounding figures of nine for 52. Although the Australians were a fragile, it was expected that they’d overcome the challenge posed by the touring Kiwis.
New Zealand skipper Jeremy Coney had no hesitation in asking the Australians to bat first in slightly overcast conditions, thereby giving his bowlers to exploit conditions helpful to them. It was only a matter of time before Coney’s decision paid rich dividends, thanks to Hadlee the bowler.
Rain made sporadic appearances on the first day of the Test and disrupted the flow of play. However, Hadlee kept exerting pressure. Australia ended the day at 146 for four – all four wickets to Hadlee. His first wicket was Andrew Hilditch, who succumbed in playing the hook. David Boon was caught at slip by Coney that ended his 69-run partnership with Kepler Wessels.
Allan Border left soon after lunch, playing straight into the hands of the cover fielder, Bruce Edgar. Greg Ritchie didn’t last long either. The Australians were soon reeling at 82 for four, and it was up to Wessels and Wayne Phillips to consolidate.
It was on November 9 – Day Two of the Test – that Hadlee was at his very best. The Australians, resuming at their overnight score of 146 for four, were soon bundled out for a paltry 179.
Wessels – who now appeared much calmer at the middle following a shaky start – was making steady progress before Hadlee had him trapped right in front of the stumps. That set off a chain reaction, and the next five Australian wickets fell for just 21 runs on the board.
Hadlee ran through the middle-order, either by uprooting the stumps or having the batsmen caught in the slip cordon. One of the best wickets for Hadlee came in the form of Greg Matthews, as the ball appeared to be moving slightly away from the southpaw before it swung in the other direction to clip the bails.
Hadlee finished with figures of nine for 52. He could well have finished with all ten wickets and become only the second man in Test history to achieve the feat, after Jim Laker. But Hadlee took an excellent running catch to dismiss Geoff Lawson and give Vaughan Brown his first Test wicket. This unselfish act saw Hadlee end one short of a record 10-wicket haul in an innings, but it’s not something he regretted. “Some people walked up and asked me why I didn’t drop the catch. But I said to them that the game of cricket is not like that. You take every opportunity you get. And it was significant for Vaughan Brown as well because that was his first ever Test wicket,” Hadlee said.
As mentioned, Australia were bundled out for 179, and the Kiwis posted a mammoth 553 for seven on the board, riding on centuries by John Reid and Martin Crowe to amass a first-innings lead of 374. Hadlee himself scored 54 in just 45 deliveries.
Australia never looked up for the challenge and they could only respond with 333 to lose by an innings and 41 runs. Border and Mathews were the only exception, as the former put up a heroic and unbeaten 152 even in the face of adversity. This was New Zealand’s first-ever Test victory on Australian soil and they later clinched the series 2-1 with a victory at Perth. Hadlee picked a further 6 for 71 in the second-innings and finished with overall figures of 15 for 123.
“Without question, of all the Tests I’ve played in, this has to be the fairy tale one. It couldn’t have been written better,” Hadlee said. Indeed, it should rank among the finest bowling performances in the history of Test cricket.
Brief scores: Australia 179 (Kepler Wessels 70, Wayne Phillips 34; Richard Hadlee 9-52) and 333 (Allan Border 152*, Greg Matthews 115; Richard Hadlee 6-71) lost to New Zealand 553 for seven declared (Martin Crowe 188, John Reid 108; Greg Matthews 3-110) – by an innings and 41 runs.
(Karthik Parimal, a Correspondent with CricketCountry, is a cricket aficionado and a worshipper of the game. He idolises Steve Waugh and can give up anything, absolutely anything, just to watch a Kumar Sangakkara cover drive. He can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/
