Mohammad Shahzad knocked a brilliant hundred as spirited Afghanistan pulled off a last over tie against India in the Asia Cup Super Four match in Dubai on Tuesday. Shahzad’s 124 laid the foundation of Afghanistan’s fighting total of 252/8 in 50 overs before bowling India out in 49.5 overs for the same total at Dubai stadium.
Needing seven to win off the final Rashid Khan over, Ravindra Jadeja hit a boundary off the second ball before taking a single off the next. Last man Khaleel Ahmed then took a single but Jadeja holed out off the fifth to give Afghanistan a morale-boosting tie with the defending champions.
This was the eighth tied ODI that India have been part of. Here’s what had happened in the earlier seven:
Against West Indies in Perth, 1991
India’s first ever tied ODI was the first match of the Benson & Hedges World Series at Perth in December 1991. It was a tri-nation tournament featuring Australia, India and West Indies. In the first match, West Indies won the toss and put India in to bat at the Waca. Their pace quartet of Patrick Patterson, Curtly Ambrose, Malcolm Marshall and Anderson Cummins then proceeded to run through the Indian line-up. Ravi Shastri, with 33, was the top-scorer as India were bowled out for a paltry 126.
India had their own pace quartet in Kapil Dev, Manoj Prabhakar, Javagal Srinath and debutant Subroto Banerjee. While this quartet was not as deadly as the West Indian one on paper at least, it was as effective as it had them reeling at 76/8. Ambrose and Cummins then got together to stitch a rearguard that took the West Indies close to their target, before a direct hit from Shastri at mid-off to the wicketkeeper’s end took India a wicket from victory. Patterson then joined Cummins as the duo took their team a hit away from victory. This was when India captain M Azharuddin decided to hand the ball to Sachin Tendulkar to bowl his medium pace for the first time.
With four to win, Patterson hit Tendulkar towards a vacant mid-wicket region and took three runs. The West Indies could not lose and had 55 balls to score one run. Azharuddin brought the field in, as Cummins tried to slash him through the slips, but the India captain dived to his left and took a great catch to secure a tie. Watch what happened:
Against Zimbabwe in Indore, 1993
This was the seventh match of the Hero Cup in 1993, featuring five teams: India, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Andy Flower won the toss and decided to field first. While WV Raman got out early, Manoj Prabhakar (91) and Navjot Sidhu (55) put on 122 for the second wicket to set India on their way. Azhar then scored an unbeaten 54, while Tendulkar, batting at No 6, had a late cameo of 24 off 16 balls to take India to a respectable 248/5.
Flower scored a half-century at the top of the order in Zimbabwe’s chase but did not find much support as they lost wickets at regular intervals. However, some useful thirties in the middle order from Andy Waller, Guy Whittall and Ali Shah took Zimbabwe close to India’s total. Zimbabwe eventually needed a run to win off the last ball but Heath Streak ran himself out as the match ended in a tie.
Against Zimbabwe in Paarl, 1997
India’s next tied ODI was also against Zimbabwe, this time during a tri-series in South Africa. This time, Zimbabwe batted first after winning the toss. A half-century from Alistair Campbell and a couple of forties from Paul Strang and Craig Evans took Zimbabwe to 236/8 in their 50 overs. Sachin Tendulkar, now the captain, and Sourav Ganguly opened the innings for India. When Tendulkar was dismissed early, he decided to send pinch hitter Javagal Srikanth out at No 3. The ploy did not work as Srinath was bowled by Eddo Brandes for 8.
Ganguly, Ajay Jadeja, Saba Karim and Robin Singh then scored some useful thirties and forties to take India close to their target. With six runs to win off the last over, Salil Ankola hit Brandes to long-off. India took a single but Ankola wanted a second, which wasn’t there. Seeing that Robin Singh wasn’t interested, he turned back but the throw from Streak was very good. Ankola was short of his crease when Brandes whipped the bails off and India were in trouble, as No 11 Venkatesh Prasad came out to bat.
Robin Singh calmed some Indian nerves by giving himself some room and slicing Brandes for four to take India within two runs of victory, but with just one ball remaining. Brandes came from around the wicket to the left-hander in an attempt to cramp him for room but ended up bowling down his leg. Prasad had already started running as the ball left Brandes’s hand. Campbell collected the ball behind the stumps and rolled it to Brandes, who threw it to the stumps and hit them. Zimbabwe thought they had won as Brandes took one of the stumps. However, it was a tie because of the wide ball.
Against England in Bengaluru, 2011
This was the group stage of the 2011 World Cup. India won the toss and opted to bat first. A century from Sachin Tendulkar and fifties from Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh took the hosts to a commendable 338. India were the favourites but England got some inspiration in their chase from captain Andrew Strauss, who produced one of the best ODI innings of his career, hitting 158 off 145 balls and eclipsing Tendulkar’s ton.
England were coasting along at 280/2 in the 43rd over, before Zaheer Khan’s reverse swing brought India back into the match. However, a brilliant lower-order rearguard from Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann and Ajmal Shahzad took England two runs from tying the score with one ball remaining. Swann then hit Munaf Patel to cover and ran two runs to ensure the two teams shared the spoils.
Against England at Lord’s, 2011
A day when the rain came to India/England’s rescue, depending on which side of the fence you’re sitting on. England won the toss and put India in to bat at Lord’s in the fourth ODI of the bilateral series, having won the first three. India needed a win to stay alive.
Openers Parthiv Patel (27) and Ajinkya Rahane (38) provided India a good start, before Suresh Raina (84) and MS Dhoni (78 not out) took the visitors to 280/5. England lost their top three early before Ian Bell (54) and a career-best innings Ravi Bopara took the hosts close to victory. Bopara and Swann added 50 for the seventh wicket before the latter was brilliantly run out by Munaf Patel. Bopara, on 96, then tried to clear the midwicket boundary but only found Ravindra Jadeja. England were 270/8 in 48.5 overs at the time, needing 11 from seven balls.
However, this is when the skies above Lord’s opened up and did not allow any more cricket to be played. The Duckworth/Lewis par score was exactly 270, which meant the match ended in a tie. While India would have felt robbed, it turned out England would have won the match had Bopara just blocked that delivery instead of getting out.
Against Sri Lanka in Adelaide, 2012
With nine runs to win off the last over and MS Dhoni in the picture, the odds would have been stacked in India’s favour to come through. However, Dhoni did not have much support left, as India were at 228/8 in 49 overs, chasing Sri Lanka’s 236/9. The best death bowler in the world at the time, Lasith Malinga, was handed the ball.
Dhoni took a couple of runs off the first delivery before giving R Vinay Kumar the strike. The tailender managed to give the strike back to Dhoni with a single, reducing the equation to five needed from three balls. Dhoni tried to sneak in another quick single that wasn’t there and should have been run out after some excellent fielding at mid-wicket from Mahela Jayawardene, but Malinga fumbled with the ball and failed to get the bails off. Four needed from two. Vinay Kumar hit towards mid-off and set off for another quick single but Angelo Mathews got a direct hit to ensure there are no fumbles, sending the tailender back.
Umesh Yadav walked in to bat at No 11 with a boundary needed off the last ball but, since the batsmen had crossed over during that run-out, Dhoni was on strike. Malinga bowled wide and Dhoni slashed it towards deep cover, where there was a fielder who just managed to stop the boundary. However, the Indians ran three and tied the match.
Against New Zealand in Auckland, 2014
This was perhaps one of the matches that acquired Ravindra Jadeja the comic knighthood. With two runs needed to win the match off the last ball, Jadeja hit the ball towards cover and ran. There was a fumble before the ball made its way back to the bowler and Varun Aaron, the non-striker, had already started the second run, but Jadeja inexplicably didn’t. Content with a single, Jadeja got India the tie.
To be fair, it was because of Jadeja that India had got that far. After putting New Zealand in to bat, Martin Guptill’s century and Kane Williamson’s fifty had taken the hosts to 314. India were reeling when MS Dhoni was dismissed for 50 in the 36th over with the score at 184/6. India needed 130 more runs to win off the last 14-odd overs and only the lower order to come. R Ashwin and Jadeja then combined for what could have been a match-winning partnership of 85 for the seventh wicket.
India needed 18 runs off the last over with only one wicket remaining. It looked like there was no hope for the visitors, before Jadeja clobbered Corey Anderson for two fours and a six to bring it down to two needed of the last ball.
With inputs from AFP
