Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Stuart Matsikenyeri marked his return to international cricket since March2005 with the innings of his career and Elton Chigumbura defied the oddsto help Zimbabwe overhaul Bangladesh’s 247 and clinch a thriller at Hararein stunning style. Matsikenyeri’s 89 in a record sixth-wicket stand of 114with Chigumbura, whose reenactment of was a classact, systematically broke down the Bangladeshis and resurrected the hostsfrom 50 for 4 to a two-wicket victory.When Chigumbura pinched a single to keep strike for the final over, andthen effortlessly heaved Shahadat Hossain over midwicket for four to sendthe devoted fans at the Harare Sports Club into rapturous applause,Zimbabwe had taken the first step towards redeeming themselves from aturbulent past season.The sight of Chigumbura, draped in the national flag and engulfed by a seaof school children, was heartening. Given that this was an inexperiencedZimbabwean side, with an average age of a classroom lot out of the , the win would have been a shot of adrenalin, valium,and Prozac all in one.Instead of inviting self destruct, like Zimbabwe have so often,Matsikenyeri and Chighumbura grabbed the innings by the reins in what willbe remembered as a great win. To highlight the magnitude of the duo’scontributions, we must rewind to the fact that the innings had started offrather pedestrian-like. Having been rocked by four strikes from MashrafeMortaza and Hossain, Bangladesh’s new ball pairing, Zimbabwelooked down and out. A 51-run stand for the fifth wicket between BrendanTaylor and Matsikenyeri, in good time, was undone by Taylor’s misjudgment.The introduction of Abdur Razzak and Mohammad Rafique, both left-armspinners, encouraged the batsmen to use their feet and try to score downthe ground. When Rafique gave it some air, the aggressive Taylorheaved him down to cow corner but was bowled in a repeat attempt. Deeptrouble, you would think…Not a chance. At least not yet. With the pressure clearly rising,Matsikenyeri and Chigumbura seemed to have realised and reassessed thesituation. Singles come at a good clip and bothbatsmen refrained from indiscretion. Rafique and Razzak were watchedcarefully, while Alok Kapali’s legspin was taken for runs. Once theyfigured out Rafique, Matsikenyeri and Chigumbura steadily brought the runrate down. Their running between the wickets, it must be said, waselectric and belied the frailty of this inexperienced side. Matsikenyerireached his fifty with a fine lofted shot down the ground and followedthat up with a crashing extra cover drive for four more. To rub it in,Chigumbura ran Rafique cheekily down to third man and then got anotherboundary when he slashed Kapali to the same region.More than the amount of runs the two put on, it was the manner in whichthey did so. The Matsikenyeri-Chigumbura association, worth its weight ingrain, had Bangladesh sweating and later fatigued. Matsikenyeri, whoseprevious best was 73, took the leading role, and pushed by Chigumbura,unleashed some fine strokes all round the pitch. Shoulders drooped, Razzakbegan to vent his frustration, and Matsikenyeri was given the easiest oflet-offs on 61 when his lofted shot to wide long-off was dropped by JavedOmar. He reacted with a neat paddle sweep for four off Razzak and to showthat he was definitely to be taken seriousy, heaved the next ball over themidwicket rope.However, a cruel twist was thrown in with victory,and Matsikenyeri’s hundred, in sight. A sharp blow to the toe from aMortaza yorker had Matsikenyeri on his back and receiving treatment, andcramped by the pain, he could only loft Shahadat to Mortaza at long-off inthe next over. But Chigumbara, who stroked Mortaza for a stunning loftedsix and straight four in the 47th over, kept his cool to see Zimbabwethrough with five deliveries to spare. Prosper Utseya, in his first matchas captain, proved his fallibility by missing a heave at Mortaza andlosing his stumps in the penultimate over, and Ryan Higgings fell lbw thenext ball to leave all at the ground reaching for their respirators. ButChigumbura was not about to let matters slip away.Bangladesh’s own innings had been a fidgety one. Tawanda Mupariwa’s twinstrikes first up had Bangladesh in all kinds of bother, but ShahriarNafees’s patient 78 and a quickfire 39 from Rafique at the death gave thema healthy total to defend. Nafees was a steady force in two fifty-plusstands with Mohammad Ashraful (25) and Habibul Bashar (40), and hiseffort, though sluggish, ensured Bangladesh did not succumb to the earlypressure from Mupariwa. Following a middle order hash, Bangladesh wereindebted to Rafique’s effective use of the long handle. He picked up sixesover deep fine leg and long-off and pierced the gaps repeatedly tofrustrate the fielders and take the gloss off a clinical bowling effort.Zimbabwe’s bowling was tidy, if unspectacular, and suggested early on that thisside will push Bangladesh in the series. On a pitch which had a hint ofmoisture, Zimbabwe’s new-ball pairing of Ed Rainsford and Mupariwa turnedin a fine initial display. There was enough pace to check the flashydrives that we have become accustomed to from Bangladesh, and the rightamount of late movement to keep the slip fielders licking their lips. Thetennis-ball bounce also proved suitable to the swing that Mupariwaachieved, while the lift that Rainsford got had the batsmen in two minds.Mupariwa’s celebratory fist pumping, dreadlocks and all, after nabbingJaved and Aftab Ahmed up the order, summed up the feisty attitude of theZimbabweans.His two further strikes at crucial times in the inningsensured Bangladesh did not run away to a high total. Rainsford, whoimpressed in the West Indies earlier this year, returned to bowl Nafeesneck and crop at the death and was far more impressive at the end. Utseyasent down his ten overs on the trot for an economical 35 runs, while thesupport staff – Rinke, whose slow medium pace was quite harmless, RyanHiggins, Masakadza and Matsikenyeri – did well to not haemorrhage runs.Ultimately, it made all the difference.How they were outBangladesh
Javed Omar c Taylor b Mupariwa 8 (15 for 1)
Aftab Ahmed c Taylor b Mupariwa 0 (16 for 2)
Mohammad Ashraful c Higgins b Masakadza 25 (75 for 3)
Habibul Bashar c Chibhabha b Mupariwa 40 (146 for 4)
Alok Kapali st Taylor b Masakadza 23 (185 for 5)
Shahriar Nafees b Rainsford 78 (188 for 6)
Mohammad Rafique b Mupariwa (238 for 7)
Zimbabwe
Chamu Chibhabha c Javed b Mashrafe 1 (7 for 1)
Piet Rinke c Mashud b Mortaza 10 (38 for 2)
Hamilton Masakadza c Ashraful b Shahadat 7 (50 for 3)
Vusi Sibanda b Shahadat 22 (50 for 4)
Brendan Taylor b Rafique 25 (101 for 5)
Stuart Matsikenyeri c Mortaza b Shahadat 88 (214 for 5)
Prosper Utseya b Mortaza 8 (242 for 7)
Ryan Higgins lbw b Mortaza 0 (242 for 8)

On the heels of a crushing victory over Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago’s (T&T) national senior team cricketers enter the final of the US$28 million Stanford 20/20 Tournament on Sunday confident that they are ready to add the final touches to the “big picture”.Turning their back squarely on overconfidence and focusing single-mindedly on game-plan execution last Friday, T&T upset whatever Cinderella plans the Nevis were harbouring with an emphatic 74-run victory in the last semi-final match of the competition, at the Stanford Cricket Ground in Antigua.And the incentive of a US $ 1 million and US $ 500,000 pay out for the champions and runners-up, respectively, is sure to inspire, like it has done in previous games, a scintillating match that should provide another opportunity for the sold-out crowd to observe what has become the standard fare of this competition – sharp and athletic fielding, inspired and probing bowling, with enterprising and daring batting.Those characteristics have certainly been present in the performances of Daren Ganga’s T&T side, whose manager Omar Khan has said his team is totally zoomed on the “big picture” of winning the tournament. And the T&T squad highlighted those traits during their outstanding triumph on Friday.Man-of-the-match and Play-of-the-match winner Kieron Pollard laid the platform for the win with a 38-ball 83 that propelled the local side to an intimidating 210 for 6 off their 20 overs.According to Khan, Pollard’s positioning at number three was a tactical move that reaped great dividends. He said, “We strategised that if we lost an early wicket, we would need someone to raise the momentum of the run rate and Kieron is a natural player, a gifted player with immense power and timing and he went in there and got the job done.”Pollard’s was the kind of effort that made Ganga’s unbeaten 62 off 39 balls pale in comparison. A solid batting output was compounded by the incisive bowling of Mervyn Dillon (3 for 30), while Samuel Badree and Pollard himself secured figures of 2 for 14 and 2 for 19, respectively.”I have always said and continue to maintain,” Khan reasoned, “that once we apply ourselves and play intelligent cricket, we are gonna come out on top.”Khan said that focus ensured that there was no complacency in their approach to Nevis, saying that his team had guarded against that at all times and adopted the mentality of taking it one game at a time. “There is no underestimation of our opponents because we know anybody can show up and play a good game and spoil your plans.”T&T had one last practice yesterday, ahead of today’s final with Guyana, led by Ramnaresh Sarwan, the West Indies middle-order batsman. “We know of the quality of the Guyana side but we are not overawed by them”, Khan added. “We will just execute our plans and adapt and adjust to suit ’cause we are confident in our ability and preparation and know we can win the game.”

Younis Khan, the Pakistan vice-captain, believes the team are stronger in the wake of the fourth Test forfeiture which rocked international cricket.Pakistan have bounced back from the Oval controversy, where they were embroiled in a ball-tampering row, to win the Twenty20 international against England and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match one-day series.”After losing the Test series 3-0 we were very down and we saw the one-day series as a good chance for us to return to Pakistan with a victory,” Younis told bigstarcricket.com. “It’s never much fun going back to Pakistan having lost a Test series and a one-day series – so we are definitely not relaxing at the moment.”There is no shortage of motivation anyway for a team generally thought to be among the leading contenders to win the World Cup in the Caribbean next spring. But the ball-tampering furore – board chairman Shaharyar Khan described the ruling as a “slur” on team and country – has brought even more focus. “One thing that helped bring us even closer together was the controversy at The Oval,” said Younis.The Oval drama led to umpire Darrell Hair, who penalised Pakistan five runs in that ill-fated Test, offering to resign in exchange for 500,000 dollars. The whole thing got revealed after a bizarre exchange of e-mails between the Australian official and the ICC was made public by the latter.”Ultimately that kind of thing is not good for cricket, and we regret the fact the match was unable to be finished,” said Younis. “We were in a good position, and also the crowd wanted to see two good teams complete the match. The whole thing is no good for cricket, no good for Darrell Hair, no good for the Pakistan team, no good for Inzy (skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq) and no good to the England team. But it’s happened now – and nobody knows what will come next.”Younis has been struck, however, by the positive effect on Pakistan’s morale. “Inside the team, we became even closer after that incident,” he said. “Team spirit was good anyway, but the unity was there even more after that match. We are very united. After that we really backed our captain.”Younis now wants Pakistan to demonstrate their ability by sweeping the remainder of the three day one-dayers starting at The Rose Bowl in Southampton on Tuesday. “We are keen to give our passionate fans something to cheer about,” he said.”That is our main goal – we must win it. We are in the world’s top three in both Test and one-day cricket, so we are in good shape. Another win in this series would see us getting closer to Australia.”

The Indian board (BCCI) has announced certain initiatives aimed at more effectively marketing domestic cricket in the country. There will be live coverage of domestic games on television and the premier tournaments have been rebranded to enhance spectator interest.In a press conference at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai, the BCCI, inassociation with Nimbus Communications Limited, announced that up to 70days of live cricket will be shown on television, starting with the Challenger Series in Chennai on October 1. Other coverage includes the Irani Trophy, finals of the Duleep Trophy, select matches of the Elite division of the Ranji Trophy and the one-day knockout tournament, and all matches of the Deodhar Trophy.Lalit Modi, the BCCI’s vice-president, said that the initiatives will revolutionise the way cricket is followed in India, allowing fans to track the performances of fringe players. “It has been our long-awaited dream to bring domestic cricket to the fans,” he said. “For the first time in India, we will have up to 70 days of live cricket in India. We intend to make domestic cricket events on par with other successful domestic brands in the world. We are on the brink of a revolution.”The Challenger Series, like last year’s edition, will be telecast live in the UKthrough Sky Sports, Fox Sports in Australia, Super Sport in Africa, Astroin Malaysia and on the internet through Willow TV.Most of the domestic schedules have been reconfigured – more than 80% of the one-day matches will be day/night fixtures to ensure greater participation of star players – while the main tournaments have been renamed.The Challenger trophy has been renamed Challenger Series for the NKP Salve Trophy. The Elite division of the Ranji Trophy – the premier domestic tournament – will be known as Super League for the Ranji Trophy, while the Plate Division will be known as the Plate League. The Ranji Trophy one-day tournament – the inter-state knockout tournament – will be known as the Premier Cup, while the inter-zonal one-day Deodhar Trophy will be known as the All Star Series for the Deodhar Trophy. However, the plans for the proposed Twenty20 tournament next year will be discussed by the board later.The marketing of the Challenger trophy held at Mohali in 2005 had set aprecedent, and Harish Thawani, the chairman of Nimbus, highlighted its success, with viewer ratings high enough to rival international games and leading entertainment shows. IS Bindra, marketing committee member of the BCCI and the driving force behind the tournament, felt that it is imperative that domestic cricket in India gets the attention it deserves, similar to the massive spectator turn-outs in England.”One of the failings of the board on previous occasions was that domesticcricket was not marketed at all,” said Bindra. “We hope to make a freshstart this time. I see no reason why we can’t replicate it the same way ithappens in England, where tickets for competition finals are sold well inadvance. With television exposure we should see more emerging stars.”Thawani concurred with Bindra, but cautioned against over-expectations. “We cannot expect overnight success,” he said. “We will be a full season away from measuring the impact.” Nimbus, which paid $612 million to secure the telecast rights of cricket in India till 2010, will begin its coverage with the launch of its new sports channel Neo Sports.On the issue of foreign players participating in domestic cricket, Modi stated that a formal approval from the BCCI is awaited when the Working Committee meets. Jermaine Lawson, the West Indies fast bowler, has reportedly agreed to play for Maharashtra this season.

Day 1
ScorecardFast bowlers Siddharth Trivedi and Zaheer Khan shared eight wickets between them as West Zone bowled out Sri Lanka A for 325 in the opening day of their Duleep Trophy match in Cuttack. Trivedi wrapped up the lower order to finish with 5 for 79 while Zaheer finished with 3 for 76, against a strong Sri Lankan side consisting of eight international players.Choosing to bat first, Sri Lanka A were led by half centuries by opener Mahela Udawatte and Chamara Silva (61), the middle order batsman who has played ten ODIs for Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka A suffered an early blow as Zaheer bowled Michael Vandort in just the second ball of the match. Udawatte and Malinda Warnapura then added 89 at a healthy rate, before Rajesh Pawar dismissed Warnapura, ten short of his fifty.Udawatte was impressive during his knock of 68, scoring ten fours and a six and looked set for three figures, before offering a return catch to Zaheer. Trivedi struck twice in quick succession, sending back Samaraweera and Jehan Mubarak to leave Sri Lanka A in a bit of trouble at 149 for 5. Silva and Upul Chandana consolidated, adding 88. When both were dismissed with the score at 253, Kaushal Silva resisted with an unbeaten 47 to take the score past 300, supported by Rangana Herath’s useful 30. Trivedi returned for his final spell and accounted for the last three wickets to finish with his eighth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.Day 1
ScorecardNorth Zone ended the first day of their Duleep Trophy match against Central Zone in Jamshedpur in a strong position at 310 for 5, with as many as five batsmen scoring half centuries. Gautam Gambhir and Yashpal Singh made 70 and 74 respectively to lay the foundation for a big score, after opener Akash Chopra fell in the third over, leg before to Praveen Kumar.Gambhir was involved in two fifty partnerships, with Ravneet Ricky and Singh, before falling to Jai Prakash Yadav. Singh scored nine fours and two sixes in his knock, but got out clumsily, hit wicket to Yadav. After his dismissal at 211, Mahesh Rawat and allrounder Joginder Sharma helped themselves to half centuries, remaining unbeaten till stumps.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A flamboyant half-century from Shahriar Nafees plus a more sedate contribution from Mehrab Hossain jr guided Bangladesh to a comfortable six-wicket victory over Zimbabwe, in the second one-day international at Bogra, and a 2-0 series lead. Their opening stand of 104 broke the back of the run chase after a disciplined bowling performance had restricted Zimbabwe to an under-par 217, despite Sean Williams’s 61.Nafees, who struck an 105 in the first match, cut loose against the new ball and any thoughts Zimbabwe had of clawing themselves back into the series disappeared as rapidly as the ball off Nafees’s bat. He struck 10 boundaries with his half-century arriving off 45 balls. Mehrab took more than twice as long for his landmark, but it was an equally important contribution which ensured there was no back into the match for Zimbabwe.Saqibul Hasan added some blows of his own in a 28-ball 36 and Habibul Bashar, the Bangladesh captain, had the satisfaction of being in the middle when the winning runs arrived with more than seven overs to spare. This result, coupled with Bangladesh’s nine-wicket win in the opening match, continues to suggest there is even a noticeable gulf appearing between these two teams – especially in sub-continental conditions.The Bangladesh spinners again played a key role in holding the Zimbabwean batting as Saqibul, Mohammad Rafique and Abdur Razzaq conceded 117 off their combined 30 overs. Stuart Matsikenyeri and Chamu Chibhabha added 49 for the second wicket before Mashrafe Mortaza forced Matsikenyeri to nick one to Khaled Mashud.Chibhabha and Hamilton Masakadza buckled down, but the introduction of spin in the ninth over put pressure on both batsmen. Saqibul trapped Chibhabha leg before for 31, and Masakadza and Williams added 76 for the fourth wicket. Mazakadza began slowly, and just as he opened up with a fine slogged six off Saqibul, he was stumped off the same bowler.Williams too was sluggish to start off with – he was troubled by Rafique and Razzak on occasions – but still collected fours by employing the sweep and cut with his first ODI fifty came off 61 balls. However, when he was trapped lbw by Rafique Zimbabwe’s hopes of exploiting the final overs went with him.Zimbabwe must now win the third match, in Bogra on Tuesday, if they want to keep the series alive.

As if Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s batting woes were not disheartening enough, his wicketkeeping abilities are now being questioned by Syed Kirmani, the former Indian wicketkeeper.”I don’t like the way he stands on his heels while waiting for the ball to be delivered. A wicketkeeper should always be on his toes,” said Kirmani, who was arguably India’s greatest wicketkeeper as his record of Tests and victims testify.Dhoni’s batting slump, especially his vulnerability against the rising ball, has been a point of discussion of late but his wicketkeeping will need some analysis as well. Kirmani observed that Dhoni was not completely down when a ball was just about to be delivered, making him too committed to his movements and diminishing his reflexes.”But that is hardly strange,” Kirmani said. “Nobody in world is worried about the quality of wicketkeeping. You would look for bowling, batting and fielding coaches but no coach, I am sorry to say, knows a thing about wicketkeeping. You would have specialists in all areas including diet, training, cardio-vascular and what not, but a man who is central to the team’s strategy in the middle is completely ignored.”Kirmani advised Dhoni not to be burdened by the added responsibility as a frontline batsman. “It is not a burden, he shouldn’t take it as a burden because then he would only chart the route to his failure. He should take it up with enthusiasm. History has many examples where wicketkeepers have taken up the dual responsibility of shoring up the team’s batting so it is not something unusual.”That’s been the trend worldwide and Dhoni is no exception. It’s been [happening] for a long time now. I would even say that in nearly two decades since I have been out, I have hardly seen any natural wicketkeeper to catch my eye.”Kirmani picked out chinks in even Adam Gilchrist’s wicketkeeping. “I am particularly shocked when wicketkeepers, even Gilchrist, collect balls swinging their arms sideways. Why don’t they get behind the line of the ball. That’s the surest way to ensure that the ball, if it misses your hands, could still bounce off your body.”

Scorecard

Chris Rogers continued his remarkable season with 152 to give Western Australia a lead of 298 after Tasmania’s disastrous first innings. A six-wicket haul from Brendan Drew – his best first-class bowling performance – gave the Tigers a sliver of hope before Michael Di Venuto (69 not out) reduced the deficit to 191 at stumps.Rogers resumed on 93 and took only five overs to raise his second century in 2006-07. The majority of his score came in boundaries – he hit 26 fours – as he pushed himself close to 800 runs in five matches this season and gave himself a buffer of nearly 250 from the second-highest run-scorer in the competiton, Brad Hodge.Rogers and the debutant Luke Pomersbach, who impressed ten days ago by scoring a century in the tour match against the England XI, proved Tasmania’s first-innings 94 was well below par. Pomersbach made 74 before giving Tim Paine his only catch in his first match as wicketkeeper for the home side.Drew, whose bowling action bears an uncanny resemblance to Glenn McGrath, produced a quality spell towards the end of the innings. He put a stop to Rogers’ fine effort and then picked up four late wickets to minimise the damage from the Western Australia lower order and finished with 6 for 94.

ScorecardShannan Stewart and Michael Papps guided Canterbury to a thumping nine-wicket win against Wellington in their Twenty20 match at Christchurch. Both made 66 – although Stewart’s was unbeaten – as Canterbury chased down the required 170 with a minimum of fuss.Neal Parlane piloted Wellington with 63, sharing a second-wicket stand of 71 with Chris Nevin. Stu Mills took charge after Parlane was dismissed in the 17th over, as his unbeaten 37 lifted them to 169. Stewart and Papps made easy work of the target with an opening stand of 136. Captain Chris Harris and Stewart guided the team home with two overs to spare.
ScorecardNathan McCullum’s allround performance steered Otago to a 14-run win over Auckland in their Twenty20 match at Eden Park. McCullum’s late-innings 20 lifted Otago to a competitive 181, but his contribution in the field was more crucial, picking up two wickets and affecting three run-outs.Richard Jones, the Auckland captain, was the only batsman to carry on after getting a start, but the steady fall of wickets increased the pressure and consequently the asking rate. Two early run-outs, courtesy of McCullum, reduced Auckland to 42 for 4. Jones and Dave Houpapa led the recovery adding a quick 55 in just over five overs. However, the rate slackened after Houpapa was dismissed. Mayo Pasupathi made a breezy 28 off 14 balls but both him and Jones were dismissed in the final over to McCullum. Jones top-scored with 75 off 57 balls with eight fours and a six.Earlier, Otago were boosted by contributions by Chris Gaffaney and and Gareth Hopkins, who made 43 and 47 respectively. Opener Gaffaney got the team off to a good start, and once he was dismissed, Hopkins and Greg Todd added 56 for the fourth wicket to lay the platform for a good score.

India 266 for 8 (Kapil Dev 175*; Rawson 3-47, Curran 3-65) beat Zimbabwe235 (Curran 73; Madan Lal 3-42) by 31 runs
Scorecard

This was one of the great one-day matches, with a truly great innings by Kapil Dev giving India an amazing victory after all seemed lost.Tunbridge Wells was quite a small ground, but that day was packed with a large crowd, squeezing in between the marquees and hospitality tents that surrounded much of the boundary.After India had decided to bat, Zimbabwe losing the toss for the fifth consecutive time, Peter Rawson and Kevin Curran bowled as if inspired, moved the ball sharply off the seam, found a lot of lift in the pitch and routed the Indian top order. Openers Gavaskar and Srikkanth both failed to score, and the five top batsmen were all gone for a mere 17 runs, with Dave Houghton taking three catches behind the stumps.Gavaskar fell in the first over, playing forward defensively but down the wrong line. Srikkanth, always eager to dominate, tried to pull Curran and got a top edge, the ball looping into the air to be well caught by Iain Butchart running about thirty metres backwards from mid-on and taking it over his shoulder. Mohinder Amarnath received an off-cutter from Rawson; he played back, the ball took an inside edge and Houghton dived to his left to take a superb catch. Sandeep Patil and Yashpal Sharma departed to the more conventional outside edge.The organisers of the match by now were getting worried, afraid that the match would be a fiasco and over by lunchtime. They mentioned their fears to Dave Ellman-Brown, who cautiously advised them that things could still change. The BBC, anticipating a startling Zimbabwean victory, phoned him as well, intending to come over and do an interview. He told them too, “The game is not over,” and so it proved.At some stage a recovery is always expected and Roger Binny stayed in with Kapil Dev, but India were in further danger later on at 78 for seven, when Madan Lal joined Kapil Dev. Kapil played an incredible innings, but he did gain some advantage from the fact that this match was played on a pitch at the very edge of the square at Tunbridge Wells. This meant that one boundary was immense, making it possible for batsmen to run three for a hit about ten metres to the side of a boundary fielder on that side, while on the other side two runs were impossible for the same hit. On the other hand, of course, fours and sixes were so much easier to hit on that side; a strong hit only a few yards from a boundary fielder would invariably beat him for four.Kapil Dev took full advantage of the short boundary and, in the opinion of both Pycroft and Houghton, a mistake that Duncan Fletcher will always own up to with regret, due to lack of experience in this form of cricket, was his decision to take off Rawson and Curran at the same time after bowling eight or nine overs of their permitted twelve instead of keeping one of them going. Instead, Fletcher brought himself on in tandem with Iain Butchart, and this was the only match in the World Cup when Fletcher bowled poorly. On the other hand, Robin Brown feels that 12 overs was a lot for a pace bowler to bowl without a break, even when taking wickets, and that they needed to have a break before they lost their effectiveness.This removed the pressure from Kapil and Roger Binny, his partner at that stage, and enabled them to settle in and begin a recovery that Kapil completed in partnership with Madan Lal and Syed Kirmani. The latter partnership, unbroken, added 126 and is still an official one-day international record for the ninth wicket. Both junior partners did a superb job for Kapil, working the ball around to give him most of the strike, and they have not received enough credit for the invaluable role they played that day.Kapil gave no real chances, if one excepts a very difficult one to Grant Paterson on the boundary in the nineties and a number of miscued strokes that fell clear of the fielders. Otherwise it was an amazing innings of clean striking against a quality attack, a performance that Kapil never equalled in a similar situation at any other time in his career. The vital statistics of his innings are: 181 minutes, 6 sixes, 16 fours, and century off 72 balls. The total number of balls he faced has not apparently been recorded. As Houghton remembers it, most of his six sixes were actually over the long boundary.After reaching his century Kapil called for a new bat, one of the new fashion at that time with tapered-down shoulders and shaped almost like a baseball bat, and he stepped up the assault even more. Rawson and Curran when they returned later were pulverised and had their figures ruined in their last three overs, conceding about ten an over at that stage. Butchart, who bowled five overs at the death, was rather more economical as he aimed consistently at the blockhole. At the close of the innings Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil’s rival for the captaincy, met him as he came off the field with a cup of water, which Ali Shah thought a very nice gesture of respect. It was a legendary innings, and even four years later in the World Cup in India the Zimbabweans frequently had people remind them or spectators call out to them, “Remember Kapil Dev!” They were not about to forget in a hurry.Dave Houghton believes that on this beautiful batting pitch Zimbabwe should still have been able to win this match. Once again, though, so many batsmen made a start but failed to build on it. They began with a good opening stand of 44, but were set back by two run-outs. Heron’s run-out was particularly unnecessary; he hit the ball out to the sweeper on the short boundary and tried to take two, which was completely impractical, and the batsmen had scarcely crossed when the return came in. Robin Brown also feels he was greatly at fault for running himself out; he was playing the sheet-anchor role when he called Fletcher for a leg-bye that was never on. Fletcher refused the call, but Brown insisted and ran through from the non-striker’s end, to be easily run out.All appeared lost as the score slumped to 113 for six, although Brown feels that the Indians did not bowl as well this time as they had at Leicester. Curran played a superb innings, though, in partnership with Butchart and Gerald Peckover, before being out to a very tame catch. He apparently misjudged the pace of a long hop and lobbed an easy catch off the splice. As long as he was still there, the Zimbabweans had favoured their chances of winning. In the end they fought back well to finish only 32 runs short of a victory they had looked like winning easily a few hours earlier. Kapil Dev bent down to kiss the ground as he came off the field as the victorious captain.In this innings, as well as others, Robin Brown feels that too often the Zimbabweans would lose wickets in twos. They had not yet learned that when a wicket fell they needed to consolidate, start again as it were, even if it meant not scoring for three overs.Again Zimbabwe felt afterwards they should have won the match, even after Kapil’s historic innings. Due to their inexperience they had not paced their innings well, got behind the required run rate and lost wickets at the wrong time. For India, it was the turning point of the tournament, for had they lost to Zimbabwe they would almost certainly have failed to reach the semi-finals. As it was, they went on to win the whole tournament, surprisingly defeating an over-confident West Indies in the final.This match was not televised, to the disappointment of Kapil Dev himself among others. One Indian supporter made himself a lot of money, though, as he had brought his video camera to the match and captured Kapil’s great innings on it from his place in the crowd. Kapil was very happy to buy the tape off him for a large sum.