Published: Jun 09, 2013, 02:14 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 25, 2014, 12:12 AM (IST)
Brian Lara and the West Indies team celebrate winning the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2004 © Getty Images
On September 25, 2004, the West Indies beat England in a thrilling encounter which had a lot of nervy moments. At one point England looked like winning the contest hands down, but an inspiring ninth-wicket stand took West Indies towards a historic win. Sarang Bhalerao revisits this epic encounter.
The once hailed world-beaters, West Indies, were nowhere close to the team they had about two decades ago. While the four pronged pace attack comprising Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall personified intimidation, the fast bowlers in 2004 were Corey Collymore, whose forte was swing, Ian Bradshaw, whose USP was unremitting line and length and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, who had a lot of variations in his repertoire. The batting was also promising. What was the striking feature was the team had a big heart. They were triers, but world-beaters? The Oval was akin to an examination hall and the English challenge was the final hurdle they had to cross.
England had the home advantage; they were in-form. Having beaten Australia convincingly in the semi-final, England were touted as favourites even before Bradshaw bowled the first legitimate ball of the match to Marcus Trescothick. England’s batting was held by Trescothick, but wickets fell at the other end. The military-medium pacer Wavell Hinds caused trouble. He picked up three wickets and conceded only 24 runs. That was a big bonus for West Indies. England were bowled out for 217, Trescothick scoring 104 of those runs.
West Indies needed to show valour, patience and discipline chasing the target. Against South Africa they had chased down 247 at the same venue with ease in the league phase. The West Indies unit was “hungry,” as skipper Brian Lara said before the game. England bowlers kept bowling in the right channels; they were rewarded. No one from the top-order got going barring Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Chris Gayle (23), Wavell Hinds (3), Ramnaresh Sarwan (5), Lara (14), Bravo (0), Ryan Hinds (8), Ricardo Powell (14) all departed leaving Chanderpaul amidst the lurch. At 147 for 7, Chanderpaul, batting on 47, too collapsed, leaving the West Indies tailenders to do a near impossible task. One thing that was in favour of the West Indies was the required run-rate which was not alarming; it was well within their reach. However, in the 34th over they had lost eight wickets.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Courtney Browne had belief and No 10 Bradshaw had the resilience. The pair decided to hang around. The England bowlers had to pick up their wickets; there was a sense of purpose in the batting. The attitude had changed; no meek surrender was on offer. The duo matched shot per shot. If Bradshaw caressed one through the off-side for a boundary, Browne used his Caribbean flair and executed a belligerent drive past backward point.
The duo got the required runs under 50, under 40,…soon they brought up a partnership of 50 together. Slowly, but surely, hope began to sprout in the hearts of the West Indies fans. There was a ray of hope amidst the gloomy light at The Oval. England were nervous, while the West Indian duo was serene.
Needing nine from 10, Alex Wharf bowled a length delivery to Browne, who sliced the ball over point for a four. Needing four to win, Bradshaw played a square drive which went for a four. Bradshaw pumped his fist as Browne hugged him. Their teammates came running on the ground. There was an ecstasy as the players were hugging, kissing and screaming in joy. There was also a sense of bafflement. This was a victory to savour for years to come.
Brief scores:
England 217 in 49.4 overs (Marcus Trscothick 104; Wavell Hinds 3 for 24) lost to West Indies 218 for 8 in 49 overs (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 47, Courtney Browne 35*, Ian Bradshaw 34*; Andrew Flintoff 3 for 38) by 2 wickets.
(Sarang Bhalerao hails from a family of doctors, but did his engineering. He then dumped a career in IT with Infosys to follow his heart and passion and became a writer with CricketCountry. A voracious reader, Sarang aspires to beat Google with his knowledge of the game! You can follow him on Twitter here)
