The Indians’ (Be)dismal run contiNueZ

This was a 35-overs-a-side match, with eight balls per over. Bishan Singh Bedi replaced Srinivas Venkataraghavan as India’s skipper. The visitors made three changes to their playing eleven – Sunil Gavaskar, Farokh Engineer and Abid Ali made way for debutants Parthasarthi Sharma, Dilip Vengsarkar and Syed Kirmani.

New Zealand made four changes to the team that knocked the Indians out of the World Cup – John Morrison, the Howarth brothers (Geoff and Hedley) and Brian Hastings made way for debutant Jock Edwards, Bevan Congdon, Mark Burgess and Lance Cairns.

On winning the toss, Bedi chose to bat. Sharma, who faced half-a-dozen balls, scored as many. Richard Collinge, the player of the match, was in seventh heaven. Anshuman Gaekwad, who faced eight balls, scored three. He was caught by Richard Hadlee. Cairns broke the nine-run stand.

The third-wicket pair put on 14. Vengsarkar, who faced 27 balls, scored 16. He was run out. Brijesh Patel, who faced 52 balls, scored 17. He was caught by Ken Wadsworth. Dayle Hadlee broke the 57-run stand.

Gundappa Viswanath, whose 88-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 56. He was caught by Glenn Turner, New Zealand’s skipper. Cairns broke the 26-run stand. Eknath Solkar, who faced four balls, scored just ek. He was caught by Cairns. Dayle broke the four-run stand.

Kirmani, who faced 19 balls, scored eight. He was caught by Hadlee. Collinge broke the 21-run stand. Mohinder Amarnath, who faced 57 balls, scored 26. Collinge broke the 11-run stand.

The ninth-wicket pair failed to get off the mark. Venkat, who faced a couple of balls, did not open his account. He was dismissed by Collinge. Madan Lal, who faced 14 balls, scored eight. He was caught by Wadsworth. Collinge broke the five-run stand. Bedi, who faced five balls, scored four. He was unbeaten.

New Zealand conceded nine extras. India were dismissed for 154 off 35 overs. Congdon, who bowled three wicketless overs, conceded 17. Brian McKechnie, who bowled five wicketless overs, conceded 16. Richard Hadlee, who bowled half-a-dozen wicketless overs, conceded 28.

Dayle, who bowled seven overs, conceded 41. He picked up a couple of wickets. Cairns and Collinge bowled seven overs, including a maiden, apiece. While the former, who conceded 20, picked up a couple of wickets, the latter, who conceded 23, picked up five scalps.

Edwards, whose given name was Graham, scored 41. His 57-ball innings included four boundaries and a six. He was trapped leg before wicket by Bedi, who broke the 73-run stand. Turner, whose 121-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 63. He was unbeaten, as was Congdon, who scored 45. His 65-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and a six.

India conceded half-a-dozen extras. New Zealand, who scored 155 for the loss of one wicket off 30.3 overs, won by nine wickets with 37 balls to spare. Lal bowled 4.3 wicketless overs, including a maiden. He conceded 22. Solkar, who bowled five wicketless overs, conceded 27.

Venkat and Amarnath bowled seven wicketless overs each. While the former conceded 39, the latter conceded 37. Bedi bowled seven overs, conceding 24. He picked up the only wicket to fall.

The Kiwis led the two-match series 1-0.

 

(Engl)And (Aj)it’s Ov(al)er for India!

Absurd as it may sound, India’s second limited-overs international was a Two-day International, owing to the use of the reserve day. It was a 55-overs-a-side-match. The Indians made a couple of changes to their playing eleven – Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Bishan Singh Bedi made way for Gopal Bose and Ashok Mankad, the son of Vinoo Mankad.

England made a couple of changes to theirs as well – Dennis Amiss and Bob Woolmer made way for Mike Smith and Derek Underwood. On winning the toss, Ajit Wadekar, India’s skipper, chose to bat.

Sunil Gavaskar, whose 23-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 20. He was caught by Arnold (Ge)off the bowling of Robin Jackman, who broke the 40-run stand. Sudhir Naik, whose 39-ball innings included a boundary, scored 20. He was caught by Tony. Chris Old broke the (Gr)eight-run stand.

Wadekar’s first two initials were AL*, which could well have stood for a leveller. He scored half-a-dozen. His eight-run stand included a boundary. He was caught by David Lloyd. Underwood broke the 12-run stand. Bose, whose 18-ball innings included a boundary, scored 13. He was caught by Mike Denness. Jackman broke the four-run stand. 

Farokh Engineer, who faced 15 balls, scored four. He was trapped leg before wicket by Jackman, who broke the 11-run stand. The sixth-wicket pair put on 19. Brijesh Patel – who shared the player of the series award with Keith Fletcher – faced 23 balls, scoring a dozen. He was run out.

Gundappa Viswanath, whose 59-ball innings included a boundary, scored 32. He was caught by Alan Knott. Old broke the 45-run stand. Eknath Solkar, who faced 17 balls, scored nought, and was caught by Knott. Greig broke the three-run stand. Abid Ali, who faced 10 balls, scored half-a-dozen. He was caught by Smith. Greig broke the 14-run stand.

Mankad**, who shared his nickname (Kaka) with actor Rajesh Khanna (of whom he was, incidentally, a fan), top-scored with 44. His 61-ball innings included three boundaries. Old broke the 15-run stand. Madan Lal, who faced 13 balls, scored three. He was unbeaten. England conceded 11 extras. India were dismissed for 171 off 47.3 overs.

Arnold, who bowled seven wicketless overs, conceded 20. Underwood, living up to his nickname, Deadly, bowled 11 overs, conceding 36. He picked up a wicket. Greig, who bowled nine overs, conceded 27. He picked up a couple of wickets. Old, who bowled 9.3 overs, conceded 36. He picked up three scalps, as did Jackman, who bowled 11 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 41.

Smith, who faced 19 balls, scored half-a-dozen. He was caught by Engineer. Ali broke the 19-run stand. John Edrich, who faced 48 balls, scored 19. He was caught by Patel. Lal broke the 46-ball stand.

Lloyd, whose 81-ball innings included four boundaries, scored 39. He was caught by the substitute fielder, Syed Kirmani. Bose broke the third-wicket stand, which was worth half-a-dozen. Mike Denness, England’s skipper, scored 24. His 37-ball innings included a couple of boundaries. He was caught by his opposite number. Mankad broke the 42-run stand.

Fletcher, who scored 55, bagged the player of the match award as well. His 79-ball innings included seven boundaries. He was unbeaten, as was Greig, whose 29-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 24.

India conceded five extras. England, who scored 172 for the loss of four wickets off 48.5 overs, won by six wickets with 37 balls to spare. Solkar bowled 11 wicketless overs, including three maidens. He conceded 37. Mankad, who bowled 5.5 overs, conceded 47. He picked up a wicket.

Lal bowled 10 overs, conceding 23. He picked up a wicket. Bose*** and Ali bowled 11 overs each, picking up a scalp apiece. While the former, whose spell included a couple of maidens, conceded 39, the latter, whose spell included three maidens, conceded 21.

It was Wadekar’s and Naik’s second and final ODI, and the only one Bose and Mankad played. But unlike the Mumbai trio, Bose, who hailed from Kolkata, never donned the Test cap.

England won the two-match series 2-0.   

[*Note (1): Wadekar, who was born on April 1, 1941, passed away at the age of 77 on August 15, 2018.]

[**Note (2): Mankad was born on October 12, 1946. He passed away at the age of 61 on August 1, 2008.]

[***Note (3): Bose was born on May 20, 1947. He passed away at the age of 71 on August 26, 2018.]

 

    

 

Ajit E(ng)l(an)(u)des ODI debutants India

It was a 55-overs-a-side match. India, led by Ajit Wadekar, became the sixth country to play ODIs. England’s only debutant, Robin Jackman was born in Simla. Mike Denness, England’s skipper (who was, incidentally, born in Scotland), won the toss, inserting the visitors.

Putting the shoplifting s(h)ocker firmly behind him, Sudhir Naik scored 18. His 29-ball innings included a couple of boundaries. He was trapped leg before wicket by Jackman, who broke the 44-run stand. Although his 35-ball innings included three boundaries and a six, Sunil Gavaskar’s disposition was far from Sunny – he scored 28. Geoff Arnold broke the second-wicket stand, which was worth half-a-dozen.

Gundappa Viswanath faced four balls, scoring as many. In fact, his runs came runs by way of a boundary. Bob Woolmer broke the third-wicket stand, which was worth 10. Farokh Engineer – the last Parsi man to play cricket for India and a Brylcreem boy – could be Count(y)ed* on to enthrall the crowd. And that was precisely what the Lancashire player did, scoring 32. His 32-ball knock included three boundaries. He was trapped leg before wicket by Yorkshireman Chris Old, who broke the 70-run stand.

Wadekar scored 67. His 82-ball innings included 10 boundaries. Jackman broke the 51-run stand. Eknath Solkar – a Mumbaikar, like Naik, Gavaskar, Engineer and Wadekar – faced nine balls, scoring three. He was trapped leg before wicket by Arnold, who broke the 13-run stand. Abid Ali, whose 24-ball innings included a boundary, scored 17. He was caught by Woolmer, who broke the 52-run stand. Madan Lal, who faced 10 balls, scored a couple. Old broke the 18-run stand.

Brijesh Patel, whose 78-ball innings included eight boundaries and a couple of sixes, scored 82. He was caught by Keith Fletcher. Tony Greig, who was born in South Africa, broke the one-run stand. Srinivas Venkataraghavan, who faced a couple of balls, scored a run. He was unbeaten. The last-wicket pair failed to get off the mark. Bishan Singh Bedi, who faced a couple of balls, didn’t open his account. He was caught by David Lloyd off the bowling of Old. 

England conceded 11 extras. India were dismissed for a respectable 265 off 53, 5 overs. Arnold bowled 10 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 42, picking up a couple of wickets. Old, who bowled 10.5 overs, conceded 43. He picked up three wickets. Greig, who bowled 11 overs, conceded 63. He picked up a wicket. Woolmer and Jackman bowled 11 overs each, picking up a couple of scalps apiece. While the former conceded 62, the latter conceded 44.

There was something Amiss about the start to which the hosts got off to. Dennis, whose 35-ball knock included three boundaries, scored 20. He was trapped leg before wicket by Solkar, who broke the 37-run stand. Bumble’s wicket was the next to tumble. Lloyd, whose 63-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 34. He was stumped by Engineer. Solkar broke the 47-run stand.

Denness was no menace. In fact, he scored just eight. His 13-ball innings included a boundary. He was caught by Venkat. Madan Lal broke the third-wicket stand, which was worth 12. Fletcher, whose 59-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 39. He was caught by Bedi, who broke the 83-run stand.

John Edrich, the player of the match in the first-ever ODI, scored 90. His 97-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries and a six. He was caught by Bedi. Venkat broke the 33-run stand. He bagged his second player of the match award, emulating Amiss. Greig, whose 28-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and a six, scored 40. He was caught by Bedi, who broke the 42-run stand. Alan, whose 13-ball innings included a boundary, scored 15. He was (K)not(t) out. Old, whose three-ball innings included a boundary, scored five. He was unbeaten.

India conceded 15 extras. England, who scored 266 for the loss of six wickets off 51.1 overs, won by four wickets with 23 balls to spare. Ali bowled nine wicketless overs, conceding 51. Lal bowled 9.1 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 43, picking up a wicket.

Venkat, who bowled 11 overs, conceded 58. He picked up a wicket. Bedi and Solkar bowled 11 overs, each, picking up a couple of scalps apiece. While the former conceded 68, the latter, who spell included a maiden, conceded 31.  

England led the two-match series 1-0. 

(*Note: Lancashire and Yorkshire are arch-rivals, and matches between them are called the Wars of the Roses, as the former is represented by a red rose, and the latter by a white one. Incidentally, Leeds is a city in Yorkshire.)