Published: Feb 13, 2015, 08:00 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 16, 2015, 08:27 PM (IST)
October 19, 1987. The target was steep, converted to almost an amble by the top order, but then Steve Waugh came on with his many, many variations of pace. Arunabha Sengupta remembers the heart-stopping, rain-soaked showdown between Southern neighbours in the heat and humidity of Indore.
Curtailed Crunch Match
Jeff Crowe’s men needed to win this.
Australia had two wins from their two matches, India two from three. New Zealand had just about managed to squeeze past David Houghton’s onslaught by a wafer thin three-run margin. They had been comprehensively beaten by India.
To stay alive in the competition, the Kiwis needed full points. And their chances looked likely to be washed into oblivion by the heavy downpour at Indore.
The Sunday was spent in a frustrating wait as the city was sprayed by the last lashes of monsoon. The players restlessly shadow practiced inside the rooms, taking time off to read about John Emburey’s spectacular assault on the Sri Lankan bowling the previous afternoon.
The format of the tournament allowed a reserve day. The Monday that followed dawned gloomy, the outfield wet and soggy. Play seemed a possibility, but a rather distant one.
It was late in the morning, bordering on mid-day when umpires David Archer and Khizer Hayat made their way into the field, accompanied by Allan Border and the elder Crowe. Did the captains feel like turning out, they asked with a semblance of doubt. There was the option of sharing points.
Jeff Crowe nodded vehemently. Border agreed to play as well. The administrators counted the minutes gone by, eyed the scheduled hour of close, looked dubiously at the sky and declared that it would be a 30-over match. It would be the first curtailed match in the history of World Cup.
That meant changes: there would be more improvisations; bowlers would be restricted to six over per head. Crowe called correctly and preferred to know exactly what he had to do to win. Hence David Boon and Geoff Marsh trotted out. The spectators heaved a synchronised sigh of relief. At last there was going to be some action.
The Boon-Jones Show
Martin Snedden removed Marsh quite early, and that brought together Boon and Dean Jones. Both loved batting in India. The previous season had seen them amass tons of runs in the country. And both liked to score quickly.
Besides, in helpful conditions, the New Zealand spin bowling was glorified rubbish. Dipak Patel would play a leading role in the 1992 edition. John Bracewell would win a Test for his country during his next visit to India. But on that day they fed the batsmen eminently hittable offerings, the gentle turn helping them to play flamboyantly to the leg.
Boon had worked the pace bowlers for a few boundaries. Now he cleared the fence twice against these slow men. Jones was more inclined to hit in the air, slamming three sixes to go with just a solitary boundary. Jones blasted his way to 52 from 45 and Boon contributed a run a ball 87. The pair added 117 from just 16 overs and a bit
The platform was perhaps not converted into the launch pad it promised to be. Border did provide some meaty blows and Steve Waugh struck a towering six. But the second spell of Ewen Chatfield pegged the Aussies back just a bit. In the end, the Kiwis were left to chase a nice round figure of exactly 200. The required rate was 6.67.
Cut to the Chase
It was a stiff ask for the day, but the New Zealanders were game. Ken Rutherford, his long nose sniffing out opportunities, acted as the pace setter. John Wright shed his habitual circumspection. Boundaries were found with a degree of frequency and ease that hewed furrows on Border’s worried brow. And twice each the openers cleared the fence.
By the 12th over the scoreboard had registered 83 without any blemish in the wickets column. New Zealand were on their way and cruising. Craig McDermott and Bruce Reid held no terrors and Tim May’s off-breaks were being taken apart. It was then that the depth of the Australian utility players came to the fore. Simon O’Donnell ran in and slanted one across. Wright’s snick was gleefully grasped behind the wicket by Greg Dyer.
Martin Crowe walked in, all eager to pit his class and panache against the steep target. He got into his groove straight away, settling down to crisp timing and exceptional placement.
Rutherford departed, his stumps rattled by some canny O’Donnell change of pace. But the younger Crowe was joined by the other Jones of world cricket. It was Dean Jones who hogged all the glamour and limelight, but Andrew Jones was a long serving asset of Kiwi cricket. He could be counted upon to hold one end up.
The score was pushed along. The asking rate climbed, but as long as wickets were intact, a calculated late charge could settle the issue. Martin Crowe was playing beautifully.
And even in this curtailed game, Border persisted with his strategy of bringing McDermott back for a mid-innings spell. Immediately it produced result. Jones tried to force the pace and Marsh held him in the deep. 133 for 3.
With pressure building, and Jeff Crowe hesitant at start, Border shrewdly put Reid on. The younger Crowe kept striking the ball into gaps. The elder played, missed, edged, and then hit one back to the towering left-arm pacer. 140 for 4. The captain had consumed more balls than he would have liked to.
51 runs remained to be scored off the last five overs. Steve Waugh had been held back to bowl at the death. It was now up to Martin Crowe. And he rose to the occasion brilliantly.
Partners fell along the way. Patel was run out at 165. Bracewell was fooled by a Reid slower at 183. But Crowe steered the innings, racing to 58, taking New Zealand to 193 for 6 at the end of the 29th over. They needed seven off the last over, Crowe and Ian Smith at the crease, four wickets in hand. The Kiwis were hovering on the brink of a memorable victory.
But then there was a Waugh
Steve Waugh was the finisher for Australia in the tournament. With the bat when the situation allowed, and with the ball, always. He ran in at medium-fast, but could vary the pace and length by that crucial wee bit almost at will. He was Border’s go-to man in matches that turned into crunch pot-boilers. In the first game against India he had clinched a one-run win by castling Maninder Singh.
Now he had the ball in his hand. Martin Crowe looked around the ground and settled to his stance. Waugh ran in. The ball was just a bit shorter than the Kiwi master expected. The drive gained height rather than distance. It hung in the air and descended into the safe hands of Marsh at sweeper-cover. The superb innings was over for 58 from 48 balls. New Zealand still needed seven.
The batsmen had crossed. All was not lost yet. Smith had the strike and he could give it a juicy wallop. Waugh ran in again.
Given the circumstances, the ball was near perfect. It pitched in the block-hole. Smith’s willow swung over it and the stumps were rattled. The game had changed in the course of two deliveries.
Willie Watson tapped one and ran. Snedden, at the other end, was a better man to secure the strike. After all, New Zealand had used him as a makeshift opener in the tournament. Snedden had scored 64 against Zimbabwe and 33 versus India.
The ball barely rolled beyond the popping crease. Snedden and Waugh raced for the other end, neck and neck, stride for stride. Waugh swooped on the ball, Snedden threw himself. The shortest of short runs was completed, dressed in dare-devil drama.
Three balls remained and six were required.
Snedden middled the next ball and there was once again a mad scamper. The throw came in, Snedden desperate to get to the striker’s end was way down the wicket, Watson stood rooted, a hundred thoughts and decisions running through his mind. Waugh calmly collected the ball and dislodged the bail. Nine down for 195. Five to win, two balls to go as Chatfield walked out.
Waugh ran in again. The arm rolled over, the ball came out a tad slower than the action suggested. Watson swung mightily. The bat swished through the air. Chatfield wondered whether to risk a run to the keeper and decided against it. Dyer collected with a wry smile.
The Kiwis had made a hash of the situation. They needed five from the last ball — in other words the ball had to be hit out of the ground.
Waugh ran in again. Watson threw every ounce into the stroke. It hit some part of the bat way removed from the middle. The ball trickled to the widish mid-on and the tail-enders ran a single.
New Zealand finished on 196 for 9, losing by three runs. Their World Cup hopes were all but sunk.
Six balls earlier they had looked all set to win it. And Waugh with his ice cold nerves had frozen the heated chase into cold turkey.
Brief Scores
Australia 199 for 4 in 30 overs (David Boon 87, Dean Jones 52, Allan Border 34; Martin Snedden 2 for 36) beat New Zealand 196 for 9 in 30 overs (Ken Rutherford 37, John Wright 47, Martin Crowe 58; Bruce Reid 2 for 38, Simon O’Donnell 2 for 44, Steve Waugh 2 for 36) by 3 runs.
(Arunabha Sengupta is a cricket historian and Chief Cricket Writer at CricketCountry. He writes about the history and the romance of the game, punctuated often by opinions about modern day cricket, while his post-graduate degree in statistics peeps through in occasional analytical pieces. The author of three novels, he can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/senantix)
