The third one-dayer between West Indies and Pakistan at Gros Islet ended in a dramatic tie with the last pair at the crease for West Indies. Here’s a look at a few other instances when a one-day match ended in a tie with the team batting second nine wickets down.
Australia vs West Indies at Melbourne (February 1984): West Indies won the toss and decided to bat first in the second final of the Benson and Hedges World Series Cup. West Indies were poor, ending up with 222 for 5 in their 50 overs. Sir Viv Richards was the top scorer for the Windies with 59 while Richie Richardson made 43. Other contributions came from Larry Gomes and Jeff Dujon, who remained unbeaten on 25 and 33 respectively. Kepler Wessels picked up two wickets for Australia. Wessels was also the star performer with the bat. He made 77 and skipper Kim Hughes contributed 53. At one stage, the Aussies were cruising at 161 for 2, but Michael Holding and Joel Garner picked up three wickets each to accentuate Australia’s collapse. The lower order failed as Australia were restricted to 222 for 9.
Pakistan vs West Indies at Lahore (November 1991): This was Inzamam-Ul-Haq’s debut ODI. Pakistan won the toss and decided to field first. In a 39-overs-per-side encounter West Indies managed 186 for 5 courtesy Desmond Haynes’ well-compiled 69. The other opener Philo Wallace contributed 32 while Carl Hooper blasted 22 in quick time. For Pakistan, Wasim Akram and Aaqib Javed grabbed two wickets each. Pakistan tottered along in their reply. Rameez Raja made 26, Inzamam 20 and Ijaz Ahmed 27. The knock which stabilised Pakistan was the one played by their skipper Imran Khan, who made 51. Windies kept chipping away at the wickets though, with Marshall grabbing three, but Waqar Younis’ unbeaten 12 took them to a tie. They ended up on 186 for 9.
Australia vs South Africa at Melbourne (August 2000): The Proteas batted first in this clash, and were restricted to 226 for 8. Many South African batsmen got starts but failed to carry on. Rhodes and Boucher made 50s even as Andrew Hall fell for 37 while Gary Kirsten and Kallis made 22 each. Jason Gillespie was the star of the show for the Aussies with 3 for 40. Australia were in command during the chase after Mark Waugh made 48, Gilchrist 37 and Ponting 39. However, South Africa found their surprise hero in Hall, who ended with figures of 2 for 8 – the big scalps of Steve Waugh and Michael Bevan. Shane Warne’s unbeaten 9 took them to 226 for 9 after 50 overs.
India vs Sri Lanka at Adelaide (February 2012): This was yet another MS Dhoni special. Chasing 237 to win the tri-series game, India had crumbled to 212 for 7 in spite of Gautam Gambhir’s 91. Dhoni, however, was rock solid and took the game till the very end. Four were needed off the last ball delivered by Lasith Malinga, and Dhoni managed to carve it away for three. India ended with 236 for 9, Dhoni was unbeaten on 58, and the match ended in yet another memorable tie.
--By A Cricket Analyst
