One of the key reasons for the popularity of limited over or the 50-over version is the close competition, the excitement it provides, and instant results, unlike test matches. However, some of the most exciting matches were so close that it failed to deliver a winner and it ended in a tie. The biggest such example was the 2019 World Cup Final. India also had his fair share of tied matches in the 50-over format. Let’s have a look at the top five.
India vs West Indies, Perth, 1991
India registered their first tied match on 6th December 1991. It was the Tri-nation Benson & Hedges World Series match at the WACA and the opponent team was West Indies. On a rare occasion due to the hard-bouncy nature of the pitch, India played four fast bowlers. Put into bat India could score only 126 as Ravi Sashtri top-scored with 123-ball 33. Curtley Ambrose bowled a magic spell of 8.4-3-9-2.
Indians started their defence in brilliant style with a wicket on the first ball. The bowlers bowled tightly and kept picking up wickets. When Malcolm Marshall was caught behind to make it 76/8, It looked like India is going to record an unlikely victory. However, Ambrose (17) and Anderson Cummins (24) added 37 runs in the 9th wicket and going for kill Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin finished the quota of all four fast bowlers by the 40th over. Sachin Tendulkar was given the ball and he conceded five runs in his first five deliveries and scores were tied. However, his last ball of the over was nicked by Cummins and Azharuddin took a great catch at the slips to record India’s first tied match.
India vs Zimbabwe, Paarl, 1997
India was playing another tri-nation series in South Africa along with Zimbabwe. India and Zimbabwe already played a Tied match in 1993 and played another exciting encounter at Boland Park. India restricted Zimbabwe for 236/8 in the 50 overs as the key contributions came from the captain Alistair Campbell (61), Paul Strang (47) and Craig Evans (40).
India’s chase had a bad start as Eddo Brandes’ fiery spell made them reel at 40 for the loss of three wickets. Sourav Ganguly (38) and Rahul Dravid (23) recovered the innings and there were contributions from middle order as Saba Karim and Ajay Jadeja both scored 30-plus runs. However, Brandes completed his five-far and made the easy chase looked difficult. For India, Robin Singh (48) pushed the scoring along with the tail-enders and took them to level with one wicket in hand. Finally, on the penultimate delivery of the 50th over Singh was run out while going for the winning run.
India vs England, Bengaluru, 2011
India’s next Tied ODI came after a gap of more than 14 years during the 2011 World Cup against England at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. In a high scoring game, India posted 338 as Sachin Tendulkar scored yet another century. Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh also scored half-centuries and Indians should have been pretty confident to defend this total.
However, the English captain Andrew Strauss had a different plan and his 145-ball 158 is widely regarded as one of the finest innings in the World Cup’s history. Strauss and Ian Bell (69) added 170 runs in the third wicket and at 281/2 it was England’s game. However, India made a great comeback through Zaheer Khan who got both the set batsmen out on back-to-back deliveries. Runs were scored as wickets also fell regularly and finally with two required on the last ball, Graeme Swann could get only one run and the match was eventually tied.
India vs New Zealand, Auckland, 2014
Indians were already 0-2 behind in the series and conceded a massive 314 runs in the 3rd ODI at the Eden Park. Martin Guptill scored a century and Kane Williamson scored 65. Ravindra Jadeja was the most successful Indian bowler with 2/47 in his 10 overs.
Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan had a good start but few quick wickets pegged them back. Captain MS Dhoni’s 50 was not enough as India still required 131 runs when he was out. However, Indian spin duo Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin added 85 runs and despite Ashwin’s dismissal Jadeja kept playing his shots and finally the equation came down to 18 runs required off the last six deliveries. With Number eleven Varun Aaron for company Jadeja hit a maximum and two fours to finish the match as tied for India.
India vs Afghanistan, Dubai 2018
Afghanistan cricket team is yet to beat India in any format, but they were really close during the 2018 Asia Cup at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Batting first they were benefitted by special innings of Mohammad Shahzad who scored 124 off just 116 balls.
Chasing 252, Indian openers KL Rahul and Ambati Rayudu had a great start and at the midway stage, it looked like an easy win for the Indians. However, tight bowling and sharp fielding brought the Afghans back in the match. Three Indian players were runout and finally, Ravindra Jadeja and number eleven Khalil Ahmed added seven runs to bring India level. But Rashid Khan ensured that Jadeja mistimed the pull and the match ended in a tie.
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