Nail Biters 2: Ind vs Aus, Titan cup '96.

Bangalore.
21 October 1996.

Titan Cup was brutally dominated by South Africa, leaving India and Australia to fight for the other berth in the final. Both of their encounters were terrific.

Winning the toss didn't prove to be too fruitful for Australia when V Prasad got Mark Waugh & Slater early. But Steve Waugh (41 off 61) joined the captain Mark Taylor and they took the score to 115 with a 92 run partnership. Then it was Bevan (36 off 49) to accompany Taylor. Signs were good for Australia when Taylor got to his 1st one day hundred, but Tendulkar struck and removed Taylor on 105 off 144. That triggered a collapse and Aussies finished on a weak 215/8 which was 197/4. Tendulkar's evening had just begun.





Tendulkar had to watch his partners leaving one by one on the other end; when Sujit Somsundar (7, 30-1), Dravid (6, 41-2), Azharuddin (1, 42-3) Ganguly (4, 47-4), all perished. (Azharuddin walked away furiously which made the crowd think that he was unhappy with the umpire. The notorious Banglore crowd disrupted the match for 20 minutes, which was eventually pacified by Azharuddin with a 'pacifying lap')



Jadeja showed some common sense (27 off 62), giving Tendulkar the most of the strike. But he was caught up in the unfortunate run out by colliding with a fielder. 127/5. Tendulkar kept scoring heavily, but Mongia (14, 157/6), Sunil Joshi (1, 164/7) left quickly. Worse for India, Tendulkar was out next over on 88 (111) and the score was 164/8. Usually, the Indian team collapsed when Tendulkar was out. But this time they had managed to collapse even without him getting out. So the game appeared hopelessly over, but what followed was a stunner.



After getting some runs, the Karnataka mates Kumble (16 off 19) and Srinath (30 off 23) unleashed. The moment of the match came when Srinath hoisted a six over the bowler's head. India was back in the game, but only just. But the duo kept stealing the runs, and the crowd went into frenzy. Both the ecstatic mothers were seen when their sons had took the score to 210/8 and one could believe that India cannot lose from here. Srinath then scored a knock out boundary followed by the winning two runs. The scenes were jubilant and Kumble-Srinath were the heroes of the hour.

Tendulkar got the man of the match award but it was that rare occasion when one could think that someone deserved an award more than Tendulkar.

Scorecard.

I Remember: We were going to move in to a new home that day, built in place of the terrace of the earlier home. It was Paadwa, but this win was what had made my day more auspicious.