The Prudential World Cup was staged in England in 1983 for the third time running and it turned out to be the one that changed the game for ever. India dramatically upset the West Indies in the final denying them their hat-trick of World Cup triumphs. It set in motion the change in the power balance in ODI cricket by inculcating belief among the Asian Nations that they could compete against the traditional super powers of the game namely England, Australia and West Indies. It was a world cup of surprises with India beating West Indies twice while new comers Zimbabwe handing a humiliating defeat to Australia. Pakistan were only a shadow of the team which had excelled in the previous world cups as captain Imran played only as a batsman due to shoulder injury while Australians were a team marred by in-fighting and factionalism.
When Zimbabwe captain Duncan Fletcher was asked to bat by Kim Hughes on a sunny morning the odds were 200-1 for his team’s victory. When the openers Ali Shah and Grant Paterson strolled out to bat they were clearly nervous. Geoff Lawson and Rodney Hogg opened the bowling but could not get early breakthrough as Zimbabweans negotiated the new ball with some stubborn batting display. Introduction of Lillee and Thomson could not deter them either. An ageing Lillee soon became frustrated and had a few verbals with Paterson when he collided with him twice. But Lillee in the end got both the openers out at the score off 55. At 86 Graham Yallop got two more wickets for Aussies through his medium pace. On the stroke of lunch Andy Pycroft was bowled by Border to leave Zimbabwe in trouble at 94 for five.
Captain Duncan Fletcher was nervously asking ‘what it was like out there’ from Pycroft during lunch break as he was the next man in. But he and Kevin Curran put on a remarkable 6th wicket partnership of 70 runs. He was dropped early on but then played a fighting and vital innings for his team. Curran was given out controversially as he was sure David Hookes had taken the ball on bounce at gully. He took ages to leave his crease. Iain Butchart joined his captain and played a few delightful shots in his 34 off 38 balls to share an unbroken 73 run stand in 13 overs. Fletcher remained not out on a brave 69 off 84 balls including five fours. Australians fielded miserably dropping as many as five catches apart from claiming two dubious ones. Lillee and Yallop claimed two wickets each.
Graeme Wood and Kepler Wessels started leisurely for Australia and put on 61 runs for the first wicket. Zimbabwe bowlers were bowling straight at nagging length giving nothing away. Vince Hogg and Rawson though could not get breakthrough but they strangled the batsmen as a result asking rate steadily climbed. Captain Fletcher himself drew the first blood when he induced an edge from Wood to keeper Houghton who took a stunning catch. He immediately removed Aussie Captain Hughes for naught to make it 63 for two. Zimbabwe had a setback when they lost Vince Hogg through a muscle strain. He was bowling quite miserly at his end. Australia had six left-handers out of top seven batsmen and off-spinner John Traicos bowled a tight leg stump line which made scoring difficult for them. He beat Hookes four times in one over during his exceptional spell of bowling. Although he was unlucky not to strike but gave away only 27 runs in his 12 overs in the middle of the innings.
Zimbabwe fielders backed their bowlers well by fielding brilliantly. They took some excellent catches as well as saved crucial runs. Fletcher removed Hooks and Yallop in quick succession and when Kepler was run out for 76 through a brilliant direct hit by Heron Australia was in a spot of bother at 138 for five. Then Border was brilliantly caught by Pycroft at the boundary edge to leave Australia gasping for air. Lawson departed to make it 176 for 7. At this hopeless position Rodney Marsh tried to slog Australia out of the hole along with Rodney Hogg. They needed 53 runs in the last five overs. Marsh made an entertaining 50 off 42 balls with three fours and two sixes but the match was already in Zimbabweans pocket when the last over started. Although he hit a six in the last over bowled by Rawson but could not do much afterwards as Rawson bowled full and into the pads making it difficult for him to hit. Fletcher took four for 42 and was named man of the match for his all round performance. He later acknowledged that they only realized they could win when the last over started. The crowd became violent when the match ended and Zimbabweans left the field utterly happy as well as stunned.
The match was overshadowed by two more matches being played simultaneously on that day specially the one between England and New Zealand. Furthermore this match was not covered by BBC due to the strike of their staff members. On top of that voting was on for Margaret Thatcher’s second term on the very same day. Despite all this happening elsewhere Zimbabwe had scripted a fairytale in the World Cup folk lore which will never be forgotten by all those who love and live cricket.
When Zimbabwe captain Duncan Fletcher was asked to bat by Kim Hughes on a sunny morning the odds were 200-1 for his team’s victory. When the openers Ali Shah and Grant Paterson strolled out to bat they were clearly nervous. Geoff Lawson and Rodney Hogg opened the bowling but could not get early breakthrough as Zimbabweans negotiated the new ball with some stubborn batting display. Introduction of Lillee and Thomson could not deter them either. An ageing Lillee soon became frustrated and had a few verbals with Paterson when he collided with him twice. But Lillee in the end got both the openers out at the score off 55. At 86 Graham Yallop got two more wickets for Aussies through his medium pace. On the stroke of lunch Andy Pycroft was bowled by Border to leave Zimbabwe in trouble at 94 for five.
Captain Duncan Fletcher was nervously asking ‘what it was like out there’ from Pycroft during lunch break as he was the next man in. But he and Kevin Curran put on a remarkable 6th wicket partnership of 70 runs. He was dropped early on but then played a fighting and vital innings for his team. Curran was given out controversially as he was sure David Hookes had taken the ball on bounce at gully. He took ages to leave his crease. Iain Butchart joined his captain and played a few delightful shots in his 34 off 38 balls to share an unbroken 73 run stand in 13 overs. Fletcher remained not out on a brave 69 off 84 balls including five fours. Australians fielded miserably dropping as many as five catches apart from claiming two dubious ones. Lillee and Yallop claimed two wickets each.
Graeme Wood and Kepler Wessels started leisurely for Australia and put on 61 runs for the first wicket. Zimbabwe bowlers were bowling straight at nagging length giving nothing away. Vince Hogg and Rawson though could not get breakthrough but they strangled the batsmen as a result asking rate steadily climbed. Captain Fletcher himself drew the first blood when he induced an edge from Wood to keeper Houghton who took a stunning catch. He immediately removed Aussie Captain Hughes for naught to make it 63 for two. Zimbabwe had a setback when they lost Vince Hogg through a muscle strain. He was bowling quite miserly at his end. Australia had six left-handers out of top seven batsmen and off-spinner John Traicos bowled a tight leg stump line which made scoring difficult for them. He beat Hookes four times in one over during his exceptional spell of bowling. Although he was unlucky not to strike but gave away only 27 runs in his 12 overs in the middle of the innings.
Zimbabwe fielders backed their bowlers well by fielding brilliantly. They took some excellent catches as well as saved crucial runs. Fletcher removed Hooks and Yallop in quick succession and when Kepler was run out for 76 through a brilliant direct hit by Heron Australia was in a spot of bother at 138 for five. Then Border was brilliantly caught by Pycroft at the boundary edge to leave Australia gasping for air. Lawson departed to make it 176 for 7. At this hopeless position Rodney Marsh tried to slog Australia out of the hole along with Rodney Hogg. They needed 53 runs in the last five overs. Marsh made an entertaining 50 off 42 balls with three fours and two sixes but the match was already in Zimbabweans pocket when the last over started. Although he hit a six in the last over bowled by Rawson but could not do much afterwards as Rawson bowled full and into the pads making it difficult for him to hit. Fletcher took four for 42 and was named man of the match for his all round performance. He later acknowledged that they only realized they could win when the last over started. The crowd became violent when the match ended and Zimbabweans left the field utterly happy as well as stunned.
The match was overshadowed by two more matches being played simultaneously on that day specially the one between England and New Zealand. Furthermore this match was not covered by BBC due to the strike of their staff members. On top of that voting was on for Margaret Thatcher’s second term on the very same day. Despite all this happening elsewhere Zimbabwe had scripted a fairytale in the World Cup folk lore which will never be forgotten by all those who love and live cricket.
Published in sportpulse.net
ReplyDelete- http://sportpulse.net/article/when-zimbabwe-surprised-themselves