Zimbabwe came back more than once, if not actuallyfrom the dead, then as nearly so as makes nodifference, to pull back a one wicket victory andreduce the series margin to 2-1

Sankhya Krishnan08-Dec-2000Zimbabwe came back more than once, if not actuallyfrom the dead, then as nearly so as makes nodifference, to pull back a one wicket victory andreduce the series margin to 2-1. It was aremarkable game of cricket with several twists,not least the final one when Zimbabwe lost twowickets in two balls after tying the scores. HenryOlonga calmly tapped the penultimate delivery, byAjit Agarkar, over mid on to seal a triumph thatshould certainly shoot down the theory that theZimbabweans are chokers non pareil. Being theirfirst victory against India in India in twelvetries, it would have been a particularly choicemoment to savour.”Obviously its fantastic for our guys to get theirfirst victory in India. Its a big confidencebooster. We’re overjoyed”, said skipper HeathStreak. “Although we lost a few wickets, our runrate was still up there. Grant and Andy ranparticularly well between the wickets and we neverlet the run rate get too far away from us.” GrantFlower wore an impassive look after the game butit was clear that the Man of the Match award herewas close to his heart. Asked what he and Andydecided when they came together, he said, “Just tokeep our heads. The important thing was to keepwickets in hand since we were playing one lessbatsman”. He said that his batting slump had goneon for longer than he would have liked. “I’m happythe way things have gone. You just have to takeeach game as it comes but obviously the confidenceis there at the moment.”It had looked curtains for the visitors after theFlower brothers and Gavin Rennie had tumbled inthe space of seven balls to leave Zimbabwe at214/6 after 41 overs. Andy Flower (77) and GrantFlower (70) had played sensibly to rescue Zimbabwefrom a precarious 52/3. There was hardly a sign ofrisk as they rattled up the runs and the change ofgears, when it came, was barely perceptible. Thepartnership was worth 158 before it was brokenwhen Grant was fooled by a well disguised slowerdelivery from Prasad. Rennie was run out firstball and in the same over Andy Flower was caughtbehind off Tendulkar. Heath Streak and MlulekiNkala kept them in the game with a 44 run standand far from being perturbed by his skipper’sdeparture, Nkala struck the next ball from Joshifor a straight six, one bounce into thesightscreen, to send an unambiguous statement ofintent to the Indians. He was run out scamperingfor the winning run and Agarkar bowled TravisFriend next ball to add to the drama but Olongakept his nerve to hand Zimbabwe a most deservingvictory.Chasing 284 at 5.68 an over, Zimbabwe beganbrightly with Alistair Campbell looking inexcellent touch. He stroked the ball around in thefirst four overs with an array of sound cricketingshots. There was not the slightest hint ofcrudeness as he procured five boundaries, four offVenkatesh Prasad. It was Zaheer Khan who made thefirst breach, producing a rising delivery whichkissed the edge of Campbell’s bat through toDahiya. Both Guy Whittall and Stuart Carlislebarely troubled the scorers, bringing the Flowerstogether with Gavin Rennie the only specialist batto follow ahead of a lengthy tail. After playingthemselves in, the shackles were broken in a Joshiover which went for 16 runs, including a sixapiece by both batsmen to bring up the hundred ofthe innings. Soon afterwards, Yuvraj Singh misseda direct hit at the bowlers end which would sentAndy Flower on his way and that was just the sliceof luck which Heath Streak said later was abouttime went Zimbabwe’s way.Earlier a masterful innings, even by his own loftystandards, from Sachin Tendulkar helped India offto a flyer of a start against Zimbabwe in Jodhpur.The gamble of going into the match with fiveseamers, and only the spin of Grant Flower asbackup didnt seem to have worked as the ball keptdisappearing into the wide open spaces in the fastoutfield off Tendulkar’s blade. The lashingreceived by the spinners in the previous game fromSourav Ganguly probably led to the drasticoverhauling of the attack but as it turned outGanguly did not last long, departing in the fourthover for just five after left armer Bryan Stranggot one to sneak in between bat and pad and uproothis offstump.Having begun with a succession of pulls off TravisFriend that fetched three fours and a six across awide arc from fine leg to midwicket, Tendulkar’sbelligerence was not becalmed by Ganguly’sdismissal. His cover driving was quite exquisite,played with a short backlift and minimum followthrough, with the ball through the field in aflash. A delicate glide off Strang went betweenthe wicketkeeper and slip with clockworkprecision. When he struck Olonga over long off forhis second six, Tendulkar had reached his halfcentury in just 37 balls and 39 minutes ofexhilarating batting. He was now giving anexemplary demonstration of all the strokes in thebook: a straight drive that shaved the stumps atthe bowler’s end, the turn of the wrists fromoutside off stump to the midwicket fence and thecut off the backfoot between point and cover.India were 102/1 after 15 overs, seemingly on theway to batting Zimbabwe out of the game.Hereupon the visitors did a simply commendable jobof containing India from thereon. Heath Streak hademphasised the virtues of discipline in his prematch briefing and that was exactly what thebowlers strove to achieve. The fifth seamerMluleki Nkala did a good job of keeping thebatsmen tight and all the others bowled well intheir second spells. However it was the spinnerGrant Flower who almost singlehandedly put thefetters on the Indian innings, bowling ten overson the trot for returns of 3/43. Rahul Dravid’s(30 in 53 balls) 114 run stand with Tendulkar wasbroken when Grant Flower had him caught at shortfine leg in his first over and he followed it upby collecting a return catch to dispatch thedisappointing Yuvraj Singh. After that stunning 84on debut his honeymoon seems to be well and trulyover. Two balls later Hemang Badani was run out,trying to scamper for what would have Tendulkar’s100th run, and being rightly sent back.Tendulkar’s 27th ODI hundred duly arrived, off 93balls, the second fifty being much heavier goingthen the first. When Reetinder Sodhi was caught atpoint off Strang, the brittleness of the Indianmiddle order had been thoroughly exposed and theZimbabweans had surged back brilliantly into thematch.Sunil Joshi joined Tendulkar at 163/5 to begin therebuilding process and in a brief knock thelefthander exhibited his favourite pull to deepmidwicket on bended knee more than once beforebeing stumped in Grant Flower’s last over with thepartnership worth 57. The lefthander’s 25 in 24balls had been vital in restoring the momentum ofthe innings aborted by the middle order collapse.The responsibility was Tendulkar’s to marshal thetail through to a competitive total but he wascaught at short fine leg as he tried to improvisea shot over fine leg for 146 (153 balls, 15 foursand 2 sixes). At 235/8, Zimbabwe skipper HeathStreak would have had illusions of restrictingIndia to 250. The last over started with India on256/8 but that last over and more precisely thelast four balls altered the equationsdramatically. A quite sensational display of cleanhitting by Zaheer Khan overshadowed, if that ispossible, even Tendulkar and lift India to asubstantive 283/8. Khan smote four successivesixes, interrupted by a wide, off a hapless HenryOlonga and as the ball disappeared for the fourthtime, so one thought did Zimbabwe’s chances. Wewere wrong.