Watch the highlights of England vs India 6th Match Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket 1985 - Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket one-day international tournament of the 6th ODI match played between India and England at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney 26th February 1985.
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| Kris Srikkanth celebrates his half-century © Cricket Australia / Channel 9 |
Half-century by Kris Srikkanth, Forties from Mohammad Azharuddin and Dilip Vengsarkar before Three-wicket hauls from Ravi Shastri and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan helped to India thumping 86-run victory over England and enter into the semi-finals in the sixth match of a Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket.
* India's 86-run win was their second largest victory by terms of runs in One-day internationals.
* England lost their last eight wickets for just 36-runs - which was their third worst eight-wicket collapse in One-day international and it is their worst 8-wicket collapse against India in ODIs. They went from 113 for 2 to 149 for all out.
India scored 235-9 in 50 overs with top scorer by Kris Srikkanth 57 off 53-balls, Mohammad Azharuddin struck 45 off 67-balls including a boundary.
Dilip Vengsarkar cracked a 43 off 62-balls including a boundary, Sunil Gavaskar scored 30 off 31-balls included 2-fours and Kapil Dev hit 29 off 23-balls with a six.
England best bowler by Norman Cowans picked up 3-wickets, Neil Foster took 2-wickets and one for Richard Ellison.
England scored 149 for all-out in 41.4 overs with top scorer by Martyn Moxon 48 off 86-balls - who fell two-run short of his half-century including a boundary, Graeme Fowler 26 and David Gower 25.
India best bowler by Ravi Shastri picked up 3-wickets for 30-runs in 10-overs including two maidens.
Laxman Sivaramakrishnan strikes 3-wickets for 39-runs in 10-overs, Madan Lal took 2-wickets and one for Kapil Dev - Roger Binny.
Kris Srikkanth named Player of the match for his brilliant batting performance to scored a 57 off facing 53-balls including 10-fours.
Kris Srikkanth named Player of the match for his brilliant batting performance to scored a 57 off facing 53-balls including 10-fours.
This match reported by Michael Carey (Third Party Reference from The Daily Telegraph)
ENGLAND failed again in the World Championship series under the Sydney Cricket Ground lights and their 86-run defeat by India left them surviving in the competition only by the slenderest of mathematical threads.
While India's second win takes them into the semi-finals, England to qualify now need not only to beat Pakistan in Melbourne on Saturday but require a third Indian win, against Australia, on the same ground on Sunday.
This Utopian situation would leave England level on points with Pakistan and Australia and the team with the best run rate would go through, though this latest defeat gives England, at 3.66, the worst rate in Group A.
Ironically, after all the worries about the accuracy of England's attack, it was an utterly inept performance with the bat that squandered a promising prospect of victory after India had been contained to 235 for nine from 50 overs.
This was not only far from unattainable but very acceptable, despite Srikkanth's giving India the sort of spectacular start he has so often threatened to do, making 57 out of 74 in
At that point he was run out by Cowans' direct hit when no other method of dismissing him seemed available.
England then paced their way carefully to 115 for two only to lose the match by abandoning these tactics and carelessly tossing away their entire middle order in the next 10 overs for 13 runs.
All this hardly comes as a surprise after their uneven performances in one-day cricket both here and in India and sug gests they scarcely deserve the rare combination of circumstances and good fortune they will now need, not to mention a match in which both departments function efficiently.
England left out Agnew from their only available 12 and after opting to bowl on an overcast day did so mostly respectably, only to be savaged by Srikkanth. On such days length and line mean little to him and the ball was soon cascading over the covers, helped by restrictions which permit only two men out for the first 15 overs.
Even to English eyes, the power and, inventiveness of his strokes was a delight and with Shastri selflessly allowing him the strike, Srikkanth rattled past 50 out of 61. made from 41 balls with his 10th four.
Cowans then produced the unexpected which was needed, scoring a direct hit from fine leg, though Foster, who marked his retun with some tight control, looked agonisingly close with an lbw appeal at 54.
Edmonds, finding the ball would turn, also imposed restraints and the rub of the green again seemed to go India's way when Vengsarkar, at 22, was caught out of his ground when the bowler deflected a straight drive against the stumps but received the benefit of the doubt from umpire French.
More than once Azharuddin looked uneasy against Edmonds and settled for a policy of steady accumulation before he was caught and bowled by Cowans, forcing off the back foot, while another direct hit, by Lamb, ran out Vengsarkar.
This led to a highly efficient spell by England which even Kapil's 29 from 22 balls could not entirely upset and after their start India must have felt their 49 from the last 10 overs was not as adequate as it might have been.
Though the outfield was slow, ones and twos were not easy to defend and Fowler. in any case, hit over the ton with great selectivity before falling to a steepling catch to the wicketkeeper in the 12th over.
By then Moxon, his partner, had started to find his timing after a start in which, by accident or design, he had not seen much of the strike and a policy of quietly picking up the singles, with a minimum of risks, took him and Gower to 94 in the 24th over.
By then Siveramakrishnan had started to pose problems, though it was a full toss which Gower pulled into deep mid-wicket's hands, while Moxon escaped off a caught and bowled at 37 and might well have been caught off Shastri's first ball.
There still seemed no cause for concern, however, but Moxon, having started to hit the spinners back over their heads, was caught and bowled by Sivarama attempting something similar in the 27th over, at which stage the decline came quickly.
Lamb, having been almost bowled cutting a googly, played on sweeping at a ball of full length, pitched outside off stump. an incredible error of assessment, it seemed, and when in the next over Gatting was caught be hind cutting England were 126 for five.
Shastri was by now turning the ball considerably and more neat work by Viswanath gave the Indian bowlers all the support they needed to complete a worthy victory in the 42nd over, England's last eight wickets going down for 36 runs.
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