New Delhi. Whenever the cricket teams of India and England have come together at Lord’s, interesting matches have been played. In one such match, Ravi Shastri and Mohammad Azharuddin scored centuries. Despite this, the Indian team was far behind England’s mountainous score. The situation was such that India needed 24 runs to save the follow-on and 9 of its wickets had fallen. Kapil Dev, who was at the crease, realized that now tuktuk would not work. As a result, he hit 4 consecutive sixes and saved the follow-on. Neither before nor after this, such a game of any batsman was seen in Indian cricket. Perhaps that is why the commentator had said at that time that only Kapil Dev can do this and no one else.
The match between India and England that we are talking about was played in 1990 at Lord’s. England declared the innings after scoring 653 runs for 4 wickets in this match. English captain Graham Gooch scored 333 runs due to the ‘kindness’ of Kiran More. More had dropped an easy catch of Gooch in this match, the consequences of which the whole team had to suffer. The story of Kiran More’s catch some other time. For now let’s return to Kapil’s bravery.
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Shastri-Azhar scored centuries
India started batting after England’s huge score. Captain Azhar (121), opener Ravi Shastri (100) and Dilip Vengsarkar (52) batted well, but it was not enough. Navjot Singh Sidhu got out after scoring 30 runs, Sanjay Manjrekar 18 and Sachin Tendulkar 10 runs. The Indian team lost 7 wickets for 393 runs and now all hopes were on Kapil Dev. Kapil also played well but wickets kept falling at the other end. As soon as Kiran More and Sanjeev Sharma got out, India’s score became 430 runs for 9 wickets.
Kapil-Hirwani pair on the crease
Now the last Indian pair of Kapil Dev and Narendra Hirwani were on the crease and 24 runs were needed to avoid the follow on. Looking at Hirwani’s batting record, Kapil knew very well that he would not get any support from the other end. Whatever had to be done, he had to do it. Then what. Kapil Dev hit 4 consecutive sixes one after the other. He hit all the four sixes in long on.
After hitting the fourth six, Kapil Dev raised his fist to show that he had done his job. In the very next over, Narendra Hirwani was out without opening his account and India’s first innings ended at 454. Thanks to Kapil Dev’s brave innings, India saved the follow-on but not the match. Kapil Dev returned unbeaten after scoring 77 runs in 75 balls. He hit 4 sixes and 8 fours in this innings.
Gooch also scored a century in the second innings
England again batted well in the second innings and scored 272 runs for 4 wickets in just 54.2 overs. They declared the innings at this score. England had a lead of 199 runs in the first innings. In this way, India got a target of 472 runs to win. Batting on the broken wicket on the last day of the match was not easy and the Indian batsmen could not struggle for long. The Indian team was all out after scoring 224 runs in 62 overs and England won the match by 247 runs. England captain Graham Gooch, who scored a century in both the innings (333 and 123), was chosen as the Player of the Match.
Tags: India Vs England, Kapil Dev, Lords Test
FIRST PUBLISHED : September 9, 2024, 08:56 IST