TRAGIC HEROES-THE MOST EXCITING BOWLING EFFORTS (Test Matches) IN LOSING CAUSE
Cricket is contest between bat and ball, but for spectators it is smashing boundaries or sixers which gives them entertainment. But unforgettable truth is that most of the times Test matches are won by bowlers. They are the one who picks up the 20 wickets in order to bowl a test side out and win the match for their teams.
However, in history, there have been instances where bowlers have bowled their hearts out and picked up wickets, but their team still ended on losing side.
Here are the top 10 bowling efforts in a Test Match inning, which ended in a losing cause
# 10 Javagal Srinath (Ind) 8/86- Ind v Pak at, Calcutta Feb 16-20, 1999.
Pak won the toss and elected to bat. They could score only 185 because of very accurate pace bowling by Prasad and Srinath. Moin Khan 78, Wasim Akram 38, and Saleem Malik 32 were the main scorers. Srinath 5/46 & Prasad 2/27.
Ind replied with 223 (Ramesh 79, Dravid 24 & Azhar 23 were the scorer, Shoaib Akhtar 4/71 & Akram 3/65).
In Pakistan’s 2nd innings Prasad took 8 wickets, the batsmen were Ijaz Ahmed, Mohd Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Saleem Malik, Wasti, Azhar Mehmood, Wasim Akram,& Shoaib Akhtar. Saeed Anwar 188 and Mohd Yousuf 56 were the main scorers. Srinath analysis was 27-6-86-8.
Chasing 279 for victory Ind were all out for 223 (Ramesh 40, Laxman 67, Ganguly 24, Shoaib Akhtar 4/47, and Saqlin Mushtaq 3/69.)
So here taking 5+8 wickets, Srinath’s effort ended on the losing side. Srinath and Saeed Anwar were jointly declared men of the Match.
#9 BS Chandrashekhar (Ind) 8/79- Ind v Eng at Delhi. Dec 20-35 1972.
Ind won the toss and elected to bat first.
They could manage only 173 ( Abid Ali 58, Vishwanath 27, Arnold 6/45).
Chandra’s effort came in Eng’s 1st inning. His victims were Wood( 19), Fletcher (2), Lewis (0), Knott (4), Arnold (12), Pocock (0), Underwood (60 and Cottam (3), his analysis 41.5-18-79-8. Eng was all out for 200.
India in their 2nd innings could manage 233 ( Solkar 75, Engineer 63, Parkar 35, Underwood 4/56, and Arnold 3/46).
With 207 needed for victory, Eng scored the same with the loss of 4 wickets only. Lewis 70, Greig 40, Denness 35 , Wood 45, Bedi 3/50.
No man of the match concept at that time.
#8 MG Johnson (Aus) 8/61- Aus v SA at Perth Dec 17-21 2008
Aus won the toss and opted to bat.
They scored 375 in 1st innings ( Katich 83, Clarke 62, Symonds 57, Haldin 46, Ntini 4/72.)
SA in their 1st innings could score only 281, thanks to wonderful bowling by Australia’s Johnson. He took the wickets of McKenzee(2), Smith (48), Kaalis (63). De Villers (63), Duminy (1), Morkel (1)l, Harris (0),& Steyn (8). Johnson 24-4-61-8.
Aus in their 2nd innings scored 319 (Katich 37, Ponting 32, Symonds 37, Haddin 94 & Kreza 32. Kallis 3/24)
Needing 414 to win which sounds somewhat impossible in the 4th innings, SA achieved this target easily by losing just 4 wickets with Smith 108, Amla 53, Kallis 57, and de Villers 106, and Duminy 50 contributing to the total 414/4.
AB de Villers was named Man of the match.
#7 A Fraser (Eng) 8/53- Eng v WI at Port of Spain, Feb 5-9, 1998.
Toss won by Eng, opted to bat.
Eng 1st innings 214 (Stewart 50, Hussain 61, Ambrose 3/23)
WI 1st innings, Fraser effort was in this inning, WI could score only 191, Fraser took wickets of S Williams (19), Lara (55), Hooper (1), Chandrapaul (34), Adams (1), D Williams (16), Ambrose (31), Benjamin (0), McLean (2). His bowling analysis is 16.1-2-53-8.
Eng in 2nd innings 258 ( Atherton 31, Stewart 73, Thorpe 39, Ambrose 5/52)
Needing 282 to win, WI achieved this by losing 7 wickets ( S Williams 62, Hooper 94, D Williams 65, Headley 3/68).
So Fraser’s great effort ended in losing cause.
#6 Nathan Lyon (Aus) 8/50- Aus v India at Bangalore, Mar 4 -8 2017
India won the toss and elected to bat. India’s first innings folded for 189 only, thanks to the splendid spin bowling of Lyon. He took wickets of Rahul (90), Pujara (17) Kohli (12), Rahane (17), Ashwin (7) Saha (1), Jadeja(3), and Ishant Sharma (0). Lyon’s analysis 22.2-4-50-8.
Aus 1st innings 276 ( Warner 33, Renshaw 60, Marsh 66, Wade 40, R Jadeja 6/63.
Ind 2nd innings 274 (Rahul 51, Pujara 92, Rahane 52, Hazlewood 6/57)
Needing 188 to win Aus team were all out for 129 Smith 28, Handscomb 24, Ashwin 6/41)
Man of the Match KL Rahul.
#5 D Bishoo (WI) 8/49– WI v Pak at Dubai, Oct 13-17 2016.
Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first.
Pak 1st innings 579/3 dec (Aslam 90, Azhar Ali 302, Shafiq 67, Azam 69, Bishoo 2/125)
WI 1st innings 357 ( Bravo 87, Samuels 76, Yasir shah 5/43)
Pak 2nd innings, they were bundled out for 123, which was mainly due to fine spin bowling by Bishoo, he took the wickets of Aslam (44), Shafiq 5, Azam 21, Misbah ul Haq 15, S Ahmed 15, Mohd Nawaz(0), Wahab Raaz (5) & Mohd Amir (1). His analysis was 13.5-1-49-8.
WI needed 346 for the win were bowled out for 289 (Johnson 47, Bravo 116, Chase 35 & Holder 40.
Man of the Match Azhar Ali.
#4 KA Maharaj (SA) 9/129– SA v SL at Colombo(SSC), Jul 20-24, 2018.
SL won the toss and elected to bat.
Maharaj’s performance happened in this innings. SL made 338. Maharaj took 9 wickets & the batsmen were Gunathilaka (57), Karunaratne (53), DM de Silva(60), BKG Mendis (21), AD Mathews (10), N Dickwella (5), RAS Lakmal (0), Herath (35), MDL Pereira (17). His analysis was 41.1-10-129-9.
SA in 1st innings replied with only 124(F du Plessis 48, Q de Kock 32, A Dananjya 5/52.
SL 2nd innings 275/5 dec (Gunathilaka 61, Karunaratne 85, AD Mathews 71, Maharaj 3/154.
Needing 490 for win SA were bundled out for 290 (TB de Bruyn 101, T Bavuma 63. Herath 6/98.
#3 SP Gupte (Ind) 9/102- Ind v WI at Kanpur Dec 12-17, 1958.
WI won the toss and elected to bat.
During WI 1st innings (222) Gupte’s performance happened and he took 9 wickets and batsmen were (Holt 31, Hunte 29, Sobers 4, Kanahai 0, Smith 20, Alexander 70, Butcher 2, Solomon 45 & Hall 0 ) His analysis were 34.3-11-102-9.
Ind 1st innings 222( Roy 46, Contractor 41, Umrigar 57, Manjrekar 30. Hall 6/50)
WI 2nd innings 443/7 dec ( Kanahai 41, Sobers 198, Butcher 60, Solomon 86, Alexander 45. )
Needing 444 to win India got all out for 340 ( Roy 45, Contractor 50, Umrigar 34, Manjrekar 31. Hall 5/76)
#2 JM Noreiga (WI) 9/95– WI v Ind at Port of Spain, Mar 6-11, 1971.
WI won the toss and elected to bat.
They scored 214 (Kanahai 37, Davis 71, Sobers 29, Prasanna 4/54)
Noreiga took 9 wickets in India’s 1st innings. He took wickets of-(India 352)- (Gavaskar 65, Durani 9, Sardesai 112, Wadekar 0, Solkar 55, Abid Ali 20, Venkatraghavan 5, Krishnamurthy 0, Prasanna 10& Bedi 4).
WI in their 2nd innings could score only 261( Frederics 80, Davis 74, Venkat 5/95).
Needing 124 to win India scored 125/3 ( Gavaskar 67, Mankad 29. Barrett 3/43)
So Noreiga’s effort went in vain and India snatched their first win in WI.
#1 Kapil Dev (Ind) 9/83– Ind v WI at Ahmedabad, Jan 12-16, 1983.
India won the toss and elected to field first.
WI in their 1st innings scored 281 (Gomes 38, Llyod 68, Dujon 98, Maninder Singh 4/85).
India in their 1st innings could score only 241( Gavaskar 90, Gaekwad 39, Kapil Dev 31. Daniel 5/39)
Kapil Dev’s performance happened in this innings & Kapil Dev took the wickets of– WI 281(Greenidge 3, Richards 20, Gomes 25, Lloyd 33, Logie 0, Dujon 20, Marshall 29, Holding 58, Daniel 0). His analysis was 30.3-6-83-9.
Needing only 162 for the win, India were all out for 103 (Gaekwad 29, Kirmani 24. Holding 4/30, Davis 3/21).
In the end, Kapil’s best-ever performance in a test match ended in a losing cause.
It is so much heartbreaking for a bowler when his best performance does not end in victory, maybe that day his batsmen did not perform well or one or two bowlers from the opposite team also bowled very well, and his own team’s batsmen could not perform against that particular bowler/s.
That’s why Cricket is always called the game of uncertainty.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India.
6th August 2021