It was a quarterfinal situation in 1987 when Kapil's Devils met New Zealand at Nagpur. India had to not only win but get a higher run-rate in order to qualify. Sunil Gavaskar had high fever on the match-eve but was determined to play. New Zealand has always punched above its stature in World Cup games and were expected to be a strong opponent even though the match was played on the subcontinent.
New Zealand won the toss and decided to bat first. All the top seven players in the batting lineup made 20s but could not go beyond 40! Thanks to the bowling of spinners Ravi Shastri and Maninder Singh as well as the part-time bowler Azharuddin, the run-rate was in check. Enter Chetan Sharma. Ken Rutherford was still at the crease and could have provided the launch for the final assault. But Chetan had other ideas. In three consecutive balls, he bowled out Rutherford, Ian Smith and Ewen Chatfield to get India's first hat-trick in ODI matches. The final total was restricted to 221, one that the Indian team would have felt comfortable at the start of the chase.
No one would have expected what transpired next. Sunil Gavaskar and Krish Srikkanth opened the innings and many expected Srikkanth to be the aggressor. But, Sunny had other ideas. He was infamously known for the 36 not out score in the World Cup match earlier. He had not scored a single century in ODI cricket till then. He also had a dream to get to a fifty faster than Srikkanth. Gavaskar fulfilled all these in the second innings of this ODI to take India to the victory post with more than 17 overs to spare. India scored at almost 7 runs per over to not only win the match but move to the semifinal of the competition.
New Zealand won the toss and decided to bat first. All the top seven players in the batting lineup made 20s but could not go beyond 40! Thanks to the bowling of spinners Ravi Shastri and Maninder Singh as well as the part-time bowler Azharuddin, the run-rate was in check. Enter Chetan Sharma. Ken Rutherford was still at the crease and could have provided the launch for the final assault. But Chetan had other ideas. In three consecutive balls, he bowled out Rutherford, Ian Smith and Ewen Chatfield to get India's first hat-trick in ODI matches. The final total was restricted to 221, one that the Indian team would have felt comfortable at the start of the chase.
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| Thanks to Mid-Day for the image |
No one would have expected what transpired next. Sunil Gavaskar and Krish Srikkanth opened the innings and many expected Srikkanth to be the aggressor. But, Sunny had other ideas. He was infamously known for the 36 not out score in the World Cup match earlier. He had not scored a single century in ODI cricket till then. He also had a dream to get to a fifty faster than Srikkanth. Gavaskar fulfilled all these in the second innings of this ODI to take India to the victory post with more than 17 overs to spare. India scored at almost 7 runs per over to not only win the match but move to the semifinal of the competition.
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| Thanks to Mid-Day for the image |
Thanks to Graham Gooch and the English bowling, India bowed out of the 1987 World Cup at the semifinal stage itself. Sunil Gavaskar would retire from ODIs and Kapil Dev was attacked for his reckless batting. But, this match was one that helped Sunil Gavaskar change the perceptions of Indian fans about his batting ability in ODIs. Sunny proved that he could bat according to the demands of limited overs as well as anyone else.
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