The Improbable Heist

CricSigmaΣ | In a 1975 WC fixture, the fancied West Indies were chasing Pakistan's 267 in the warm Edgbaston sun made due to some formidable batting performances by Skipper Majid Khan (60), Mushtaq Mohammad (55) and Wasim Raja (58). Fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz struck early and got Roy Fredericks and Gordon Greenidge out cheaply for just 12 and 4 respectively.

 Alvin Kallicharran also nicked an edge off him to the keeper Wasim Bari. The mighty West Indies were now 36/3. Skipper Clive Lloyd and Rohan Kanhai formed a small partnership of 48 runs and steadied the ship. But then came a twist when Naseer Malik crashed the stumps of Kanhai when the team score was 84. Viv Richards came out to bat with Lloyd but Pervez Mir ensured that the charismatic Antiguan couldn't do much when Zaheer Abbas took his catch which left WI at 99/5. Bernard Julien and Llyod made another attempt in creating a stable partnership but both fell in quick succession to Masood and surprisingly Javed Miandad. Scoreboard showed 151/7 now.

Wicketkeeper Deryck Murray was a perfectly able batsman and the trio of Boyce, Holder and Roberts was handy with the bat too. But the victory now felt improbable with 116 runs still needed and only 3 wickets in hand.

Something interested happened off the field. Tom Graveney, the adjudicator, who had to decide the man of the match, left the stadium thinking that Pakistan had the game in their pockets.

But Murray had some other ideas. Run-by-run, he and Holder tried to reach closer to the target. It was almost like a miracle. But the fortune gods decided to make it more interesting. Holder fell as the 9th wicket when the scoreboard show 203. The fearsome bowler Andy Roberts came out to bat as the last man. He and Murray started grinding each run again. Murray was playing aggressively and Roberts tried to play carefully. Sarfraz Nawaz bowled out his overs but couldn't get any success and finished with the figures of 4/44.

 

Now, West Indies needed just 5 runs off the last 2 overs. Skipper Majid Khan chucked the ball to seamer Parvez Mir who bowled a MAIDEN. WI needed 5 off the last over now. Part-timer Raja had to bowl the last over. The first ball went for a bye and in the enthusiasm of getting a runout, Pakistan conceded an overthrow!! Then they made 3 runs off the next two balls to secure a magical win. 

As the adjudicator had left the field before this happened, he gave the MOM award to Sarfraz Nawaz for his excellent spell thinking that he had won the match for Pakistan. West Indies went on to easily defeat Australia in the final group game and also were the inaugural champions beating Australia in the final.