McLean
Park, Napier • 3 March 1992
The fifth World Cup played in Australia
and New Zealand in 1992 had many firsts to its credit. It was the first time
that coloured clothing was being worn, as also the white ball being used, and
some of the matches played under lights. The teams were not divided into
separate groups, but each played every other side. It was also marked by some
innovative captaincy by Martin Crowe, aided no doubt by other members of the
think-tank. He had off-spinner Dipak Patel open the bowling, and sent in Mark
Greatbatch as opening batsman with instructions to hit the ball over the top in
the first 15 overs when the field was up. Doubtlessly, the New Zealanders
played inspired cricket for much of the tournament.
Their match against Zimbabwe was badly hit
by rain, necessitating some quick scoring. In fact the innings was interrupted
twice, and their cause was not helped by the loss of two early wickets. That
was when Andrew Jones and Martin Crowe got together in a stand of 129 runs.
Crowe was brilliant. His smooth, majestic
strokeplay brightened up a dull, damp day, and brought much-needed warmth and
cheer to a crowd huddled under umbrellas and raincoats for long spells. Nothing
that the Zimbabweans had to offer could unsettle him. The Kiwis were allowed
just 20.5 overs of batting but that was enough for Crowe to equal the World Cup
record for the fastest half-century, off a mere 30 deliveries. This had been
achieved by Chris Old and Imran Khan earlier, though by 2007 Brendon McCullum
brought the mark down to 20 balls.
Jones provided valuable support with a
fifty of his own. When rain brought the innings to a close, Crowe had hit up an
unbeaten 74 off just 44 balls, having cracked 2 sixes and 8 fours. It was one
of the finest exhibitions of exquisite strokes. There were no violent hits or
crude heaves, just shots of a master. Martin Crowe was indeed a cultured
batsman, his head still, and right over the ball. There was class stamped all
over when he was at the crease.
To overhaul a score of 162 was a mammoth
task, as much in view of the small number of overs available as because of the
dismal conditions. When the overs were curtailed further to 18, and the target
score became 154 by taking into account the New Zealanders' lowest-scoring
overs, the Zimbabweans were virtually out of the match even before their innings
began. They lurched to 105 for seven when play ended mercifully.
The bleak and dreary end to the match
contrasted sharply with the proceedings while Martin Crowe was in the middle. A
charismatic batsman like him has the ability to put life into even the most
boring of matches and to add a golden glow to the kind of bleak conditions that
dogged the game the whole day.
As so often in his career and throughout
this tournament, Crowe was a delight. In such a mood he had few peers and even
they would have applauded him all the way back to the pavilion after his
glorious innings.
New Zealand : 162 for 3 wickets (20.5 overs)
Zimbabwe : 105 for 7 wickets (18 overs)
(Author Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted
on email singh_iv@hotmail.com).
Follow
his blogs:
Indra
Vikram Singh’s books are available at attractive prices on Amazon:
The Big Book of
World Cup Cricket 1975-2011
Published
in India by Sporting Links
ISBN
978-81-901668-4-3
Crowning Glory
Published
by Sporting Links
ISBN
978-81-901668-6-7
Don’s Century
Published
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ISBN
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A Maharaja’s Turf
Published
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ISBN
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Indra
Vikram Singh’s forthcoming books:
Indian
Spring, on India’s triumph in the cricket World Cup 2011
Wonder Down Under, special souvenir on the cricket World Cup 2015
