On this day in 1993: India, Zimbabwe play out a thrilling tied ODI
India faced Zimbabwe on 18th November 1993 in the 7th match of the C.A.B Jubilee Tournament at the Nehru Stadium in Indore. The 5-team tournament was then known as the Hero Cup. The home team began with a 7-wicket win against Sri Lanka.
But two days before facing Zimbabwe, the Indian team collapsed for 100 all out against West Indies while chasing a revised target of 170 in 38 overs in Ahmedabad. To qualify for the semi-finals, India needed to win one of their remaining two matches.
Zimbabwe appeared to be India’s best chance as South Africa were in good form and had beaten West Indies by a 41-run margin. Coming into the game, the Indian team had won all the nine ODIs they had played against Zimbabwe, including a 3-match series at home earlier in 1993. However, Zimbabwe gave a tough fight in their maiden Test match in 1992, where they took a 149-run lead in a draw.
The drama
On the eve of the match, the Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin didn’t receive the best of the treatments from the local police as he arrived late for practice along with Pravin Amre. The Indian skipper wasn’t happy with the crowd present around the nets and reportedly lost his cool in the heat of the moment. This took place only 24 hours after Azhar called the Ahmedabad crowd the worst he had ever seen. Almost 40 minutes were lost during the game against West Indies where India suffered a big defeat.
India lost the toss and were invited to bat first in front of a crowd that was expected to be roughly 35,000. The rain gods stayed away as India crawled to 128/3 in 33 overs thanks to a 122-run stand between opener Manoj Prabhakar and Vinod Kambli (55 off 96). Prabhakar was stumped after making a fine 91 off 126 balls with only four boundaries. But Azharuddin scored an unbeaten 56-ball 54 while a quick 16-ball 24 from Sachin Tendulkar contributed to India’s total of 248/5.
The chase
Zimbabwe kept losing wickets but put themselves alive in the chase thanks to a sensible 56 from 82 balls by their captain Andy Flower. The opener got out at the score of 143/5 but it gave a beginning to a 56-run partnership for the 6th wicket which came in only nine overs. The No.7 batsman Ali Shah hit four boundaries in his 31-ball 37 while Guy Whittall scored 33 but the duo got out in the same over.
Zimbabwe soon lost their 8th wicket at the score of 212 and were still 37 runs away from a win in 5.1 overs. 25 runs came in the next 23 balls before Zimbabwe lost their 9th wicket. Heath Streak was still at the crease with the last man John Rennie. Prabhakar, who faced the first ball of the match, was given the ball to defend ten runs against the last pair.
The last over
Only two runs came in the first three balls but Rennie connected the 4th ball towards mid-wicket, only for it to fall inches inside the boundary line. The penultimate ball fetched two runs leaving Rennie to score two more on the final delivery for a win. Prabhakar nailed a perfect yorker to finish the game but Zimbabwe got a single to level the scores and Streak was run-out trying for the second. Some rusty fielding efforts from India played a role in the match ending in a tie.
Prabhakar was named player of the match for his all-round performance as he finished the game with figures of 10-0-41-2. India went on to beat South Africa to qualify for the semi-finals by finishing at No.3 in the points table. In the semis, India edged past South Africa by merely two runs. India put out their best in the final against West Indies to clinch the Hero Cup with a 102-run victory.
