Wednesday, 30 September 2015

28th SEPTEMBER 1984 FIRST FLOODLIGHTS MATCHED PLAYED IN DELHI BETWEEN INDIA AND AUSTRALIA

Kepler Wessels lights up first day-night ODI in India

Kepler Wessels © Getty Images
Kepler Wessels scored 107 in the match to help Australia win by 48 runs © Getty Images
On September 28, 1984 Delhi became the second city after Sydney to host a day-night cricket match. Abhishek Mukherjee looks at an evening lit up by Carl Rackemann and Tom Hogan after a splendid partnership between Kepler Wessels and Kim Hughes.
Day-night cricket always looked hep on television. Coloured clothing, white balls, black sight-screens, tall light-towers, multiple shadows, backed by chants from the huge Sydney Cricket Ground — which, surprisingly, hosted as many as the first 31 ODIs since the inception of cricket under floodlights.
There were speculations back in India regarding what cricket under lights was like. What was it actually like? Do the insects not come out? Do floodlights brighten up the ground sufficiently? What about the dew? Most importantly — will India ever hold a day-night encounter?
With cricket already gaining popularity in India after their World Cup triumph. When The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to bring floodlit cricket to India, they decided not to invest in a test ground and use the floodlights of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi (which had hosted the 1982 Asian Games) instead.
The opening ODI of Australia’s 1984-85 tour of India was scheduled as the historic occasion. It was not the usual view one associates with cricket grounds. The gravel track ran inside the playing arena, and the floodlights looked almost unreal as one looked up in the Delhi chill.
The match
Thousands of Delhi-ites (some of them circumspect) poured into the ground to see Kim Hughes opting to bat and Chetan Sharma snare Graeme Wood for a duck. That was, however, the last moment of joy for the crowd for some time as Hughes himself ground in, helping Kepler Wessels, back after a knee injury, put up 128 in 120 minutes for the second wicket, with Hughes batting in “characteristically flamboyant style”, to quote Wisden.
The partnership was eventually broken when Hughes (72) became debutant Ashok Patel’s first international wicket. There was some brisk scoring from Graeme Yallop, but it was Wessels who buoyed the Australian innings. Keeping Ian Chappell’s advice in mind, he kept his head down and batted through almost the entire stipulated 48 overs before holing out to Ghulam Parkar off Madan Lal for 107. Australia finished on 220 for 9, with Madan Lal (2 for 23 from seven overs) and Patel (1 for 27 from ten) being the most impressive of bowlers.
Surinder Khanna and Parkar tried to get India to a steady start, but both were dismissed early by Carl Rackemann. Dilip Vengsarkar and Sandeep Patil put up some resistance, but John Maguire’s double-blow left India reeling at 97 for 5. Hughes introduced his left-arm spinner Tom Hogan, and Wayne Phillips, not the best of wicket-keepers, immediately made the necessary adjustments. He chose to keep wickets from a distance to Hogan under lights.
Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev attempted a comeback in their contrasting styles, but Rackemann eventually broke the 51-run stand by removing Gavaskar. Kapil, the last hope for the side, was bowled by Tom Hogan for 39, following which India crashed to 172 in 40.5 overs as Rackemann and Hogan ran through the tail. Rackemann finished with 4 for 41 and Hogan with 3 for 44, but Wessel’s resilient hundred won him the Man of the Match.
India were never in the match. As Wisden noted, “accustomed to making the adjustments required to compete successfully under lights, they [Australia] controlled the match from the time [Kepler] Wessels and [Kim] Hughes added 128 for the second wicket.”
What followed?
  • After washouts in the next two ODIs at Visakhapatnam and Jamshedpur, Australia clinched the series in the fourth ODI at Ahmedabad thanks to Geoff Lawson and Allan Border. They took the series 3-0 at Indore following some splendid batting from Steve Smith, Greg Ritchie, and Wessels.
  • Five months after the Delhi ODI Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) became the third venue to host day-night ODIs.
  • R Premadasa Stadium In Colombo became only the second non-Australian city to host a day-night ODI — as late as in September 1992.
  • In November 1993 Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad became only the second Indian ground (and the first Indian test ground) to host a day-night ODI.
  • The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium hosted only one other ODI — between India and South Africa — in November 1991. It was the second day-night ODI on Indian soil. Both Kapil and Shastri played in both matches, as did Wessels — albeit for another country.
  • In 1988 the stadium hosted Amnesty International’s Human Rights Now! featuring an ensemble set of performers, including Sting, Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman, Youssou N’Dour, and Ravi Shankar
  • The stadium was also the main venue for 1989 Asian Championships in Athletics and Commonwealth Games 2010.
  • Wessels never scored another ODI hundred.
Brief scores:
Australia 220 for 9 in 48 overs (Kepler Wessels 107, Kim Hughes 72) beat India 172 in 40.5 overs (Carl Rackemann 4 for 41, Tom Hogan 3 for 44) by 48 runs.
 (Abhishek Mukherjee is the Editor and Cricket Historian at CricketCountry. He blogs here and can be followed on Twitter here.)
TAGS:
About 77,700 results (0.63 seconds) 
    Stay up to date on results for 1st floodlit odi between india australia played in delhi.
    Create alert

    About 54,20,000 results (0.90 seconds) 
      Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra - From your Internet address - Use precise location
       - Learn more   
      Help Send feedback Privacy Terms
      Posted by at

      1 comment:

      1. Unknown6 April 2017 at 01:52

        Get Live Cricket Score with Ball by ball Live Score & live cricket Streaming of all international and domestic cricket matches being played around the world. Cricket Scorecard will be updated instantly and accuracy is given high importance.

        ReplyDelete

      Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)