da 888： Kambli and Tendulkar matched each other in both stroke and run production
da pinup bet： Partab Ramchand02-Feb-2002A victory off the last ball. There can’t be a more exciting finishthan this and while there have been quite a few such results in thehistory of one day internationals, the six-match series between Indiaand England on the 1992-93 tour could not have gotten off to a betterstart. For England won the firstgame at Jaipur byfour wickets off the last delivery.
Kambli and Tendulkar matched each other in both stroke and run production.It was the left-handed Kambli’s 21st birthday and he could not have wishedfor a better gift than an unbeaten 100 which ensured him the man of the matchaward.
The man of the match however was on the losing side. Put in to batbefore a capacity crowd at the Sawai Man Singh stadium on a coolJanuary morning, India could not have made a worse start with the lossof Navjot Sidhu without a run on the board in the second over. VinodKambli entered at this stage but soon lost Manoj Prabhakar, who made aquick 25. Paul Jarvis had taken both wickets. Mohammad Azharuddin toodid not last long, out leg before to Chris Lewis for six.Three down for 59 was no way to start an innings but now SachinTendulkar joined his old Bombay school chum and there was a suddentransformation. The two put the bowlers to the sword while sharing anunbroken 164-run stand for the fourth wicket. Kambli and Tendulkarmatched each other in both stroke and run production. It was the lefthanded Kambli’s 21st birthday and he could not have wished for abetter gift than an unbeaten 100 which ensured him the man of thematch award.He faced 149 balls and hit nine fours and a six. Tendulkar finished ona brilliant 82 not out, compiled off just 81 balls, hitting six foursand a six as India could post a challenging total of 223 for three in48 overs.Kapil Dev gave an early breakthrough by removing skipper Graham Goochfor four in a total of 29. But then vice-captain Alec Stewart tookover. First, he added 56 runs for the second wicket with Robin Smith(16). This was followed by a third wicket stand of 60 runs betweenStewart and Mike Gatting (30). By the time Stewart was third out at145 for 91, the match was nicely balanced. Stewart played the spinnersAnil Kumble and Venkatpathi Raju particularly well and twice he usedhis feet to hit the left arm spinner over the ropes.He faced 126 balls and besides the two sixes, hit six fours. NeilFairbrother and Graeme Hick (13) supplied the necessary accelerationat a vital stage by adding 39 runs for the fifth wicket. Prabhakar andKapil came back to bowl the final overs but the left-handedFairbrother was equal to the task. He and Chris Lewis inched Englandtowards the target and when Prabhakar started the last over, six runswere required for victory. The bowler was left to rue an overthrow ofhis own penultimate delivery that enabled England to draw level. Ascrambled single off bat and pad from the last ball signaled apulsating victory. Fairbrother remained unbeaten on a timely 46, madeoff only 38 balls with the help of five fours and a six, and Lewis oneight. England went on to take a 3-1 lead before India took the lasttwo matches and ensured that honours remained even.
