Zimbabwe Cricket Union

3RD MATCH -- ZIMBABWE v INDIA

At Bombay; 17 October. ZIMBABWE 135 (A J Pycroft 61; M Prabhakar 4/19, Maninder Singh 3/21). INDIA 136/2 (K Srikkanth 31, S M Gavaskar 43, D B Vengsarkar 46*). India won by eight wickets (full scorecard).

Andy Pycroft labels this match as Prabhakar's Game. Ironically, after Zimbabwe's mistake in fielding first in the previous match, Traicos decided to bat on winning the toss this time, only to find Prabhakar revelling in the conditions and swinging the ball sharply both ways. Dave Houghton remembers this match in particular because it was their first encounter with reverse swing, before it was popularised by the Pakistanis some years later. Robin Brown was dropped from the team after two unsuccessful matches, and Kevin Arnott brought in for his official debut.

The team's liaison officer was former Indian wicket-keeper Narendra Tamhane, who had lived in Bombay all his life. He looked after the team extremely well, and he told the Zimbabweans from his 30-year experience of playing on the ground that, should they win the toss, it was vital to field first because of the tendency of the pitch to play up early on. Certain less helpful voices, though, suggested that the pitch would break up as the match went on. The Zimbabweans considered putting India in, but their experiences batting second in the first two matches persuaded them to back themselves to bat first and ignore Tamhane's advice -- with fatal consequences.

On the Young India tour of Zimbabwe three years earlier Prabhakar had caused the Zimbabweans great problems with his swing and cut, and in this match, in helpful conditions, he continued his dominance of them. The weather was very hot and humid, although overcast, and the grass on the pitch was quite long, and the bowlers wet one side of the ball with sweat, with remarkable results. In any case Zimbabwe went into this match under a severe handicap, as both Peter Rawson (side strain) and Eddo Brandes (hamstring) were injured and unable to play, possibly a factor which dissuaded Traicos from fielding first.

With the home team India playing, the ground was packed an hour before the start with perhaps 40 000 spectators, with a further 20 000 or so outside wanting to come in. This was by far the largest crowd the Zimbabweans had experienced, and added greatly to the nervous tension.

Zimbabwe were very quickly 13 for four, all to Prabhakar, and although he was not to take another wicket Zimbabwe were to be 67 for seven not long after. Grant Paterson was bowled by an outswinger and Kevin Arnott trapped lbw by an inswinging yorker. Houghton was actually bowled through his legs by another inswinger, and Pycroft was the only senior batsman able to cope. Houghton describes these balls as "boomerangs" that nobody could get a bat on. Brown says he would be surprised if they managed to lay a bat on 30% of the balls bowled in the first twenty overs. With the ball bending so much it would be very difficult for any lbw decisions to be given, but Arnott feels that he was genu-inely out, right back on his stumps and trying to let the ball go.

On Houghton's way back, he passed incoming batsman Kevin Curran who had seen how much the series of induckers had moved and prepared himself for the same stuff. Curran's first ball swung viciously the other way and he edged a catch to the keeper! Prabhakar was able to swing the ball either way at will, and Pycroft, employing superb determination and technique, and also surviving several chances, was content merely to survive and see him off. The Indians did show some signs of relaxing with Zimbabwe on the ropes, giving Mohammad Azharuddin a rare over and a long spell to Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, their leg-spinner, who was turning the ball square, perhaps too much, as he proved expensive.

Andy Waller looked to be in good form for a while, and it was a disappointment when he was stumped off Maninder Singh. 'Babu' Meman, on his one-day debut, gave Pycroft good support to make the second-highest score, and it took a last-wicket stand with Malcolm Jarvis to take the score past 100. Jarvis went in with the spinners Maninder and Sivara-makrishnan bowling, and he found himself unable to get a bat on Siva's sharply spinning deliveries in particular. Pycroft told him simply to get as far forward as he could and to run if the ball hit his bat.

Jarvis managed to get in only one good hit, when he put all his force into a powerful drive. Navjot Sidhu, 25 metres deep at mid-on, lost the ball completely against the crowd, and the ball hit him right between the eyes, requiring some ice treatment. But Pycroft confesses that Zimbabwe were badly outplayed that day.

Prabhakar, who was at times a rather controversial figure, was a greatly underestimated bowler and Houghton for one found him a pleasant person with whom he established a friendship over the years. He bowled one spell of eight overs in this match, and was not needed again as the later batsmen, despite the durability of Pycroft, never looked like taking control.

The two left-arm spinners Maninder and Ravi Shastri kept a tight rein on the batsmen, and they were to cause all their opponents problems on their own pitches in this competition. They had developed what was at that time a new field setting to their bowling; they kept up a consistent attack just outside the off stump to a five-man off-side field, with two behind square, at backward point and wide third man. When playing the ball with the spin, the batsmen had their main scoring strokes completely blocked. The only way to score was to move down the pitch to drive, which was also to the bowlers' advantage, as they then claimed many wickets through stumpings and catches in the covers.

The Indians then cruised to victory without undue effort, with only Traicos of the Zimbabwean bowlers having any effect whatsoever. The other bowlers took quite a hammering, but Traicos was as economical as ever and took the only two wickets to fall. Sunil Gavaskar, perhaps secretly relieved at not having to face the injured Rawson, scored freely until stumped down the leg side by Houghton. Krish Srikkanth played the reverse sweep with impunity, and even played a "reverse slog" over cover. The Zimbabwean pace bowlers were unfamiliar with the technique -- or until now even the existence -- of reverse swing and could not swing the ball in orthodox fashion at all.

Kevin Arnott, after a disappointing morning, thought that things could hardly get any worse. However Kris Srikkanth, one of the hardest hitters of a ball, launched into a cover drive. It was a very difficult chance which Arnott dived for and got a hand to, but fell right over and the ball hit him amidships. He had to leave the field and spent the rest of the day in the showers, feeling distinctly sick.

After the dismissals of the openers in quick succession, Dilip Vengsarkar took charge, and Robin Brown and Jarvis were particularly impressed by his skill and the ease with which he took control. Jarvis felt it was a good experience to bowl at these players, but there was very little room for error on those pitches.

Zimbabwe now had to take stock of their situation, after playing three bad games after arriving with what should have been a very competitive side. Part of this was due to the unfamiliar conditions and part due to the long injury and illness list, especially to the pace bowlers. No amount of preparation, Pycroft feels, could have adequately prepared them for the Indian conditions.

The Zimbabweans enjoyed quite a good relationship with this Indian team, as many of them had taken part in the earlier Young Indian tour of Zimbabwe. They had got to know such players as Prabhakar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Ravi Shastri and Maninder Singh well, despite that team's rather unsatisfactory attitude on the field at times during that tour. The highlight of this match for Zimbabwe, though, was playing against Sunil Gavaskar again. The little master did not having a great record against Zimbabwe, with a highest score of 50 in three one-day internationals. He was dismissed by Rawson on three of those occasions, twice for 4 and 0 -- and in the fourth match, this one at Bombay, Rawson was not playing.

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Date-stamped : 25 Apr1999 - 22:52