The bowl-out events in cricket you did not know of
Bowl-out events are often great fun to watch. The first memory that will resonate in the minds of many Indians when they come across the term bowl-out is that famous game against Pakistan. In the T20 World Cup 2007, which was also the inaugural edition of the tournament, both the teams were involved in a bowl-out after they ended up putting exactly the same total on the board. India won that game and it remains to be a very fond memory for many.
However, bowl-outs are quite uncommon nowadays and they have been replaced by the Super Overs. But in the past, there were many occasions when the winner of a game was decided by the means of a bowl-out. There are also occasions where play was not possible, and the winner was decided through a bowl-out. Here are some of the lesser-known bowl-out events in cricket that you should know about.
Hertfordshire vs Derbyshire, 1991
Inspired by football’s penalty shootout format, the ECB decided to use bowl-out in knockout games in the year 1991. Bowl-out made its debut after a game between Hertfordshire and Derbyshire in the 1991 Natwest Trophy was abandoned. Despite going into the reserve day, the toss could not take place for this game. Five players from each team were involved in the bowl-out and had two chances each. Only one player from Derbyshire hit the stumps once while Hertfordshire completed the win by hitting the stumps twice.
PCA Masters XI vs Chilaw Marians Cricket Club, 2005
In the International 20:20 Club Championship 2005, the PCA Masters XI played the Sri Lankan T20 team Chilaw Marians Cricket Club. It was Chris Gayle’s debut T20 game and likewise for Parthiv Patel, Rohan Gavaskar and a few others. Shortly after the first ball was bowled, the game had to be abandoned due to rain. Thus, the winner had to be decided through a bowl-out. PCA Masters XI were bang on target and won the bowl-out by a 6-2 margin.
New Zealand vs West Indies, 2006
In a game between New Zealand and West Indies back in 2006, the winner had to be decided once again by the means of a bowl-out. Both the teams finished on 126 runs after the completion of 20 overs and this resulted in a tie. Shane Bond, from New Zealand, knocked down the stumps on both the occasions while Scott Styris finished the needful by hitting the stumps once while the West Indies players failed in all of their attempts.
Canada vs Zimbabwe, 2008
In 2008, Canada and Zimbabwe were involved in a bowl-out scenario. Zimbabwe failed to get 22 runs from the last 20 balls of the innings resulting in a tie. After the first attempt, the scores were level at 1-1. Zimbabwe took the lead in the second attempt and put the final nail in the coffin by hitting the stumps on the third occasion too while Canada missed it.
Somerset vs Lancashire, 2009
An indoor bowl-out was conducted after the quarter-final game of 2009 T20 Cup between Somerset and Lancashire was washed out. There was no action on the reserve day as well in this game. ECB allowed an extra reserve day but that was also of no use. In the end, Somerset won the bowl-out by a 5-1 margin.
