On this day in 1998: India-Pakistan play out a thrilling Independence Cup final
There is always so much more to an India-Pakistan contest than just cricket. The intense atmosphere, incredible passion, frenzy of fans, and a contest second to none. It does not matter when, where, and how these two nations face each other, but there is nothing more for a fanatic to ask for than this contest.
In what was one of the many memorable clashes of India and Pakistan, the former chased down a massive target of 315 runs, on this day in 1998, in the deciding final of the Silver Jubilee Independence Cup in Bangladesh (1997-98). The three-nation tournament had an unusual format as there were three league fixtures in a Round-Robin League format between India, Pakistan, and the hosts Bangladesh, which was followed by a best-of-three final.
Given that Bangladesh were only finding its feet in international cricket in those times, the finalists for the tournament were quite obvious. After electing to field first in the third final at Dhaka against Pakistan, India managed to get a couple of early wickets as Harvinder Singh removed Shahid Afridi and Aamer Sohail to reduce opponents to 66 for 2.
What followed, however, was a partnership for the ages as Ijaz Ahmed joined Saeed Anwar, who both went after the bowling immediately. Saeed Anwar, who slammed 140 from 132 balls, and Ijaz Ahmed, who scored 117 from 112, added a record-breaking stand of 230 for the third-wicket. Harvinder had managed to pick up 3 wickets, but his ten overs had cost a miserable 74, and the others fared even worse as Pakistan finished at 314/5.
Chasing a daunting target – given the year was 1998 – Indian openers Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly took the team to a flying start. Adding 71 runs for the first wicket with Ganguly, Sachin slammed a quick-fire 41 from 26, with 7 boundaries and a six, before Shahid Afridi got him caught by Azhar Mahmood. That was when Robin Singh joined an unstoppable Ganguly on the other end, and the duo smacked the leather mercilessly.
Pakistan failed to strike a breakthrough for as many as 30 overs as Ganguly eventually reached his hundred, and India reached 250/1 after 38 overs. The target of 65 in the remaining 10 overs looked gettable (India’s innings was restricted to 48 overs), however, Mohammad Hussain ended the 179-run partnership soon after India crossed the 250-run mark as he dismissed Robin Singh, who was caught by Aaqib, having scored an 83-ball 82 with 4 fours and a six.
Singh’s dismissal inflicted a short collapse as India lost Ganguly (124) too, and the subsequent cheap dismissal of Mohammad Azharuddin (4), Ajay Jadeja (8), Navjot Siddhu (5), and Nayan Mongia (9) increased the drama towards the end. India needed 9 runs in the final over with three wickets in hand. However, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Javagal Srinath scored 11 and 5, respectively, to take India to the target with a ball to spare. Kanitkar struck a famous boundary when India needed three runs from the last two balls.
