On this day in 1993: India-Zimbabwe thriller ends in a tie
Indian cricket was doing well in the early 90s under the supervision of Mohammed Azharuddin and 1993 happened to be a really good year collectively as India won the Hero Cup by overcoming West Indies on a rank-turner at the Eden Gardens.
However, it was on this very day 29 years ago that the Indian team had to settle for a hard-fought tie against Zimbabwe. It is to be noted that Zimbabwe were a strong team back in the 90s and early 2000s and had given the best teams a run for their money.
When India were almost stunned by Zimbabwe
India and Zimbabwe locked horns in the seventh match of the Hero Cup at Indore’s Nehru Stadium. This was one of the must-win matches for Azhar & Co. to keep their semi-final hopes alive.
The toss was won by Zimbabwe skipper Andy Flower and he elected to bowl first. India looked in control when Vinod Kambli (55) and Manoj Prabhakar added 122 runs for the second wicket. Prabhakar soldiered on from one end despite wickets falling from the other end.
Unfortunately for him, he was dismissed just nine runs short of a well-deserved century when he was stumped by Flower off Stephen Peall. An impactful 54 not out from captain Azharuddin helped India post a competitive total of 248/5.
In reply, Zimbabwe kept losing wickets at regular intervals, but skipper Andy Flower held on from one end tightly and played a counter-attacking knock scoring 56 runs.
After his dismissal, it seemed as if the Indian bowlers would be able to apply the stranglehold on the Zimbabwean batters, but the middle-order batter Ali Shah gave the hosts a scare as he scored a vital 37 runs off 31 balls while Guy Whittall also contributed with an important 33. The tail-enders Heath Streak, John Rennie, and, Stephen Peall staged a good fightback as the match went right down to the wire.
The onus was on Manoj Prabhakar to defend 10 runs in the final over. He kept things tight under pressure and conceded just two runs off his first three deliveries. Even though the fourth ball was nicely timed by Rennie towards mid-wicket, it failed to clear the boundary as the ball agonizingly fell inches inside the boundary line.
Zimbabwe scored two more runs off the fifth delivery which meant that they only needed two runs off the final ball. Manoj Prabhakar bowled a yorker, but still the Zimbabweans managed to sneak a single before Heath Streak was run out attempting a second run. Thus, the scores were level and the contest ended in a hard-fought tie.
