On this day: Botham and Willis pull off a miracle at Headingley

At 135/7, only formalities were left. Facing Australia’s first innings total of 401/9 declared, England had collapsed to 174 all out. Australian captain Kim Hughes had no qualms about asking England bat again. Another poor outing saw them crash to 135/7. Ian Botham was the lone batsman at the crease with only the tail remaining.

There was a lot going on in Botham’s mind. England lost the first Test of the six-match series under his leadership. In the second match, he recorded a pair in the drawn Test. The English selectors had seen enough. For the third Test at Headingley, Leeds, they appointed Mike Brearley as the skipper. That liberated Botham but also gave him a point to prove. His 50 in the first innings was an indication of that but the real explosion was still to come.

Following on, England were still 92 runs behind when their seventh wicket fell. A freed-up Botham then started swinging his bat around. Fortune favoured the brave as boundaries started flooding in. He received tremendous support from the lower-order batsmen. Graham Dilley added 56 runs of his own in the stand of 117 runs for the 8th wicket. Chris Old contributed 29 runs in the partnership of 67 runs for the penultimate wicket while Bob Willis (2) helped Botham add another 37 runs.

At the end of the fourth day, Botham was not out 145. Next day, England could add only five runs as Willis fell early. Botham remained not out after an immortal knock of 149 from 148 balls with 27 boundaries and a six. England were still not out of the woods as Australia needed only 130 runs to win. At 56/1, the visitors were all set to clinch a 2-0 lead despite Botham’s heroics. And then, Willis stepped up.

Trevor Chappell was Willis’ first victim. A rising short delivery saw Chappell fend one straight to the wicketkeeper, Bob Taylor. The barrage of short bowling also saw Captain Hughes and Graham Yallop return to the pavilion without making a run. Australia went to lunch at 58/4. Post lunch, Old went through the defences of Australia’s grittiest batsman, Allan Border. A 35-run partnership between Dennis Lillee and Ray Bright for the 10th wicket ignited hopes for Australia but Willis was in a trance. He cleaned the tail and his sensational spell of 8/43 saw England register an unbelievable 18-run victory.

England’s victory at Headingley was only the second instance in Test cricket of a team coming back to win a match after being asked to follow on. The home side then went on to win the next two Tests and secured the series 3-1. Botham top-scored in the series for England (399 runs) and also took the most wickets for his team (34 wickets). The series is widely regarded as ‘Botham’s Ashes’.