It is said that the tough gets going when the going gets tough. Kapil Dev showed that in precise measure when he came up with an exhibition of brutal hitting at Tunbridge Wells. Kapil had the gargantuan task of getting his side out of the woods after India, at one stage, were reeling at 17 for 5.
This after Zimbabwe’s new ball operators – Peter Rawson and Kevin Curran prepared the disaster recipe for the Indian top-order sending back Sunil Gavaskar, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Mohinder Amarnath, Sandeep Patil and Yashpal Sharma to share five wickets between them.
The stage was set for Kapil to lead by example, and he was determined to come to the party when his side needed the most. He quickly realised that seeing off Rawson and Curran was in the best interests of India if they were to mount a recovery.
Kapil stitched a partnership with Roger Binny to keep India afloat before Binny fell. The mild recovery Kapil orchestrated threatened to be nipped in the bud when Ravi Shastri made a quick return to the pavilion.
The Indian innings was always in danger of closed out with seven down but Madan Lal held one end up as Kapil opened up playing robust shots on both sides of the wicket.
The Indian worrylines broadened when they lost Madan Lal but in Syed Kirmani Kapil found someone who allowed him to play his natural game and also bottle one end up.
The partnership with Kirmani saw Kapil at his menacing best as he took the Zimbabwean bowlers to the cleaners. The undefeated 9th wicket century stand propelled India to a score of 266 for 8 in 60 overs.
Robin Brown and Grant Paterson showed discipline at the top but Zimbabwe soon lost their way after the fall of Paterson to be at a shaky 61 for 3.
Brown got himself in and it was important from Zimbabwe’s perspective that he batted through, especially since their top-order had caved in meekly. But when he ran himself out after compiling a hard-earned 35, a difficult journey awaited the Zimbabweans.
In fact, Zimbabwe struggled to keep themselves in the match after Brown perished. Soon, the Indian bowlers were on top as Zimbabwe plunged to 113 for six with big-hitting Dave Houghton and skipper Duncan Fletcher failing to fire with the bat.
It clearly looked as if India were the firm favourites to win the match. But Kevin Curran set in motion a Zimbabwean recovery with Iain Butchart and later with useful support from wicketkeeper Gerald Peckover and Rawson.
Curran’s bellicose half-century gave India a real scare but Kapil’s men breathed a huge sigh of relief when he misjudged a long-hop off Madan Lal and fell at the score on 230. His wicket signalled the end of the Zimbabwean challenge and the final rites were performed when Kapil caught and bowled Traicos.
Kapil’s phenomenal innings prompted Sunil Gavaskar to rate his knock as the best ODI knock ever seen. “When you had lost half of your side with less than 20 runs on the board, obviously it was not looking good. But Kapil went out and played his innings...best innings I had seen in limited overs international,” the little master had once said.
But the biggest disappointment in the Indian win was that no clipping or television footage of Kapil’s great knock was available, as BBC was on strike that day and did not cover the match.
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