This Day In Cricket History

[Sai Jai]

8th February 1994
Kapil goes past Hadlee
Kapil goes past Hadlee
On this day in 1994 at Motera,
Ahmedabad, Kapil Dev dismissed Sri
Lankan batsman Hashan Tillakaratne
to overhaul Richard Hadlee's then
world record of 431 Test wickets.
Tillakaratne was caught at short-leg
by Sanjay Manjrekar helping Kapil
become the leading wicket-taker in
Test history. The achievement was
marked by the authorities releasing
432 balloons and a minute's standing
ovation. The Test match itself ended
on a high for Kapil as India cruised to
an innings win over Arjuna
Ranatunga's men. The Test match was
particularly memorable for a couple of
Hyderabadis in the Indian Team.
Mohammad Azharuddin smashed a
scintillating 152 while left-arm-
spinner Venkatapathy Raju ended with
match figures of 11/125 that included
a six-wicket haul in the second innings
as Sri Lanka collapsed from 149/2 to
222 all-out. India swept the three
match series, 3-0 and Kapil hogged the
lime-lights. Kapil retired soon after
that game. His tally of 434 wickets has
since been surpassed by the likes of
Courtney Walsh, Anil Kumble, Shane
Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.
© Cricbuzz

 

[Sai Jai]

8th February 1994

Kapil goes past Hadlee

On this day in 1994 at Motera, Ahmedabad, Kapil Dev dismissed Sri
Lankan batsman Hashan Tillakaratne to overhaul Richard Hadlee's then world record of 431 Test wickets.
Tillakaratne was caught at short-leg by Sanjay Manjrekar helping Kapil become the leading wicket-taker in Test history. The achievement was marked by the authorities releasing
432 balloons and a minute's standing
ovation. The Test match itself ended
on a high for Kapil as India cruised to
an innings win over Arjuna
Ranatunga's men. The Test match was
particularly memorable for a couple of
Hyderabadis in the Indian Team.
Mohammad Azharuddin smashed a
scintillating 152 while left-arm-
spinner Venkatapathy Raju ended with
match figures of 11/125 that included
a six-wicket haul in the second innings
as Sri Lanka collapsed from 149/2 to
222 all-out. India swept the three
match series, 3-0 ..

 

[Sai Jai]

10th February 2003

Andy Flower, Olonga mourn 'the death
of democracy'

On this day in 2003, Andy Flower and
Henry Olonga walked out to play
Zimbabwe's World Cup game against
Namibia at the Harare Sports Club
wearing black armbands as a mark of
silent protest against the existing
Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwean regime.
The duo made powerful statements
when they issued a joint press
conference right before Zimbabwe was
about to host their first ever World Cup
game. An act that mourned 'the death
of democracy' caught even their own
teammates unawares. Robert Mugabe
leading a one-party regime in
Zimbabwe had been severely criticized
for human rights violations in the
country. By their selfless acts, Flower
and Olonga were aware that they were
risking thier careers and more
importantly, their lives. Both the
players were forced into exile at the
end of the tournament ..

 

[Sai Jai]

11th February 2003

Shane Warne gets sent home

On this day in 2003, Shane Warne was
sent home from the World Cup in
South Africa after testing positive for a
banned diuretic ahead of Australia's
first game. The legendary leg-spinner
claimed that he took only one of the
so-called 'fluid tablet' given to him by
his mother to improve his appearance.
A committee setup by the Australian
Cricket Board found Warne guilty of
breaching the team's drug code and
imposed a one-year ban on their
talisman. Warne, who weeks earlier,
had made a complete recovery from a
shoulder injury, was sent back to
Australia immediately. Despite losing
Warne, Australia embarked on an
unbeaten campaign and went on to
defeat India in the finals at
Johannesburg. Incidentally, Shane
Warne wouldn't go on to feature in
another World Cup game. An
unfortunate end in the World Cups for
a champion cricketer ..

 

[Sai Jai]

12th February 1949
Vishy is born

On this day in 1949, one of India's
finest batsmen, Gundappa Viswanath,
is born in Bhadravathi, Mysore,
Karnataka. 'Vishy' as he is fondly
known, scored 6080 runs in 91 Test
matches and held the record for the
highest individual score (137 v
Australia in 1969) for an Indian
batsman on Test debut until 2013,
before Shikhar Dhawan broke the
record. He was one of the mainstays of
India's batting in the 1970s. The cut
shot was one of Viswanath's favourite
shots. He also played ODIs for India
from 1974 and 1982 and also featured
in the first two editions of the World
Cup, in 1975 and 1979. Viswanath was
always known for his fair-play and in
his short stint as captain, he recalled
England batsman Bob Taylor in the
Golden Jubilee Test, despite the
umpire ruling Taylor out
..

 

[Sai Jai]

13th February 1995

Walsh rips through New Zealand
On this day in 1995 at the Basin
Reserve in Wellington, a 32-year old
Courtney Walsh ripped through the
New Zealand batting order to set up a
mammoth innings and 322 run win in
the 2nd Test of the series. Electing to
bat after winning the toss, the visitors
amassed 660 with Brian Lara, Jimmy
Adams and Junior Murray all getting
centuries. West Indies captain,
Courtney Walsh, then took 7/37 to
bowl New Zealand out for 216 and
enforced the follow on. In the second
innings, Walsh recorded figures of
15.2-8-18-6 to finish with incredible
match figures of 13/55. The win was
the fourth-biggest in Test history at
that time. By virtue of their win in
Wellington, the visitors took the two-
match series, 1-0.

 

[Sai Jai]

14th February 2003

A unique hat-trick

On Valentine's Day during the 2003
Cricket World Cup, Chaminda Vaas
went into the record books at the City
Oval in Pietermaritzburg, when he
became the first man to take a hat-
trick with the first three balls of the
match against Bangladesh. In a group
encounter at the World Cup, Sri
Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya won
the toss and handed the new ball to
the seamer, Vaas. The left-armer
began by getting Hannan Sarkar
bowled off the first ball. He added the
wickets of Mohammad Ashraful and
Ehsanul Haque to complete a unique
feat. Vaas ended with figures of 6/25
as the Bangladesh innings folded for
124. In response, the Sri Lankan
openers Marvan Atappatu and
Jayasuriya struck unbeaten fifties to
complete a ten-wicket win with almost
30 overs to spare.

 

[Sai Jai]

16th February 1996

Kirsten smashes 188 against UAE

On this day in 1996, Gary Kirsten
recorder the highest individual score in
World Cup history when he slammed
an undefeated 188 against minnows
UAE in Rawalpindi. The left-hander's
got his runs at a strike-rate of 118,
hitting 13 fours and four sixes in the
process. Riding on Kirsten's record
breaking innings, South Africa notched
up 321/2 in their 50 overs. Chasing 322
against an attack comprising Allan
Donald, Craig Matthews and Shaun
Pollock was always going to be out of
reach and UAE crawled their way to
152/8 in their 50 overs handing South
Africa. UAE's captain, Sultan Zarawani,
however entered cricketing folklore
when he opted to face Donald without
a helmet and copped a blow to his face.

 

[Sai Jai]

17th February 1984

AB de Villiers' birthday

One of cricket's most complete
batsmen was born on this day. AB de
Villiers, the proud owner of the fastest
ever ODI hundred (31 balls) is easily
one of cricket's most entertaining
cricketers. He has a fine array of skills
that make him in equal measure a
match-saver and a match-winner.
That he is equally adept at playing
Tests, ODIs and T20s and still have an
immense impact on the game tells
volumes about his ability. de Villiers
also is the quintessential team man,
taking up captaincy duties, keeping
duties whenever the team needs. He is
also an electric fielder, known for
taking spell-binding catches and
effecting nigh-impossible run outs and
saves. All this makes him, arguably,
the best player of his generation. That
is something even his contemporaries
agree on ..

 

[Sai Jai]

Happy birthday ABD :claptup:win ..