Òn this day, 1996, Javagal Srinath bowled one of the most devastating spells by an Indian fast bowlers.

He blew South Africa away with 6/21 at Ahmedabad to help India pull off their first Test match win against South Africa.
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However, some of that can be attributed to SK Bansal's atrocious umpiring.

Five years after returning to international cricket with an ODI series in India, South Africa were playing their first Test match in the country.
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After being bowled out for 223, India reduced South Africa to 119/7 – before Symcox and de Villiers took them to 244.

And then India were reduced to 124/7.

With only Prasad and Hirwani to bat, Kumble joined the only debutant of the Test match.
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It would have taken something special to turn things around.

And the debutant did exactly that.

A Very, Very Special effort, in fact.

Only three months ago, Bloomsbury paid JK Rowling an advance of £1,500 for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
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So the two wizards arrived at roughly the same time.

VVS Laxman's 51 and his 56-run partnership with Kumble brought India bat into the Test match.

But even then India were bowled out for 190.

South Africa needed 170 – definitely not a big target but at least competitive.
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And to compete, India needed quick wickets.

Srinath got Hudson with his fifth ball, leg-before. SK Bansal gave it out, though replays suggested that the ball would almost certainly have missed leg.

Cullinan edged the next ball to Mongia. South Africa 0/2, Srinath 1-1-0-2.
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As Kirsten and Cronje grew in confidence, Tendulkar (leading India for only the second time) brought his spinners on.

They got Kirsten and Cullinan but Cronje and McMillan looked settled.

Tendulkar recalled Srinath.

And Srinath immediately had Richardson caught-behind. 96/5.
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Rhodes, batting down the order because of a hamstring injury, was out LBW next ball.

Once again, replayed suggested that it would have missed leg.

Srinath got two in two for the second time in the innings.

Now Kumble took out Symcox and de Villiers.
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And Srinath once again had two in two, this time without umpiring intervention.

Both Donald and Adams were bowled.

South Africa were bowled out for 105 after 6 for 9 in 25 balls.

As mentioned, this was the first time India beat them in Test cricket.

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More from @ovshake42

25 Nov
Jhulan Goswami turns 38.

Everyone is aware of the records and her many struggles against all odds, so I shall stick to the first time the unstoppable force of Indian cricket met the immovable object.
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Rae Bareilly, 2000.

East Zone had folded for 102 in the Chandra Tripathi Under-19 Tournament.

Opening batting for South Zone were Karu Jain and the wonderkid of Indian cricket, Mithali Raj, also captain of the side.
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Rumeli Dhar bowled the first over.

Then Bobby Dutta summoned Goswami.

"I was thinking, wow, she is an India player. That gave me a boost when I was bowling."

(source: The Fire Burns Blue)

Goswami got the yorker right.

All three stumps were knocked out by the impact.
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Read 6 tweets
25 Nov
Raja Sir Maharaj Singh (centre) was the first Indian Governor of Bombay.

He also had a short stint as Prime Minister of Jammu & Kashmir.

So why am I talking about him?

Because on this day, 1950, he became the oldest to play a First-Class match.

He was 72 (no typo).
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More specifically, he was 72 years 194 days old on the last day of his only match.

At 68 years 4 days, CK Nayudu remains the second-oldest.

At 60 years 269 days, Cornelis Vels is the second-oldest *debutant*.

So Raja Maharaj Singh holds both records by considerable distance.
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A Commonwealth XI was touring India and Ceylon.

This was a very strong side, featuring the likes of Worrell, Ames, Laker, Paynter, Dooland, Tribe, Ramadhin, Gimblett, Shackleton, etc.

Their 13th match was at Brabourne Stadium, against Bombay Governor's XI.
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Read 8 tweets
24 Nov
MV Sridhar was a genius strategist, perhaps at par with Percy Fender. I wish he got more coverage.

Let me explain what I am talking about.

This took place on this day, 1997.

Before getting into what he did, let me explain what the Ranji Trophy rules used to be at that point.
+ Image
There were five zones. Three teams qualified for the Super League.

Of the six South Zone teams, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Hyderabad were the likeliest to qualify.

However, an odd win from Andhra, Kerala, or Goa changed that from time to time.
+
Now for the points system.
8: outright win
5: first-innings lead in draw
3: conceding first-innings lead in draw;
2: abandoned (or no result on first innings)
0: outright defeat.

Three matches started on November 22 that year.
+
Read 11 tweets
24 Nov
Everyone knows everything about Ian Botham, who turns 65 today.

I cannot think of anything to add, so let me try to cite a few incidents from his childhood.

These are sourced mostly from his autobiographies, and are not necessarily in chronological order.
+ Image
Ian never cared for rules. He was also rather good at it.

Marie, his mother (she excelled at cricket, badminton, and hockey), once left Ian with some toys in a playpen and went to the kitchen.

Sure enough, she found Ian at her ankles.

This happened for a second time.
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When she put him back again she monitored him through a crack on the kitchen wall.

Ian lifted one side of the playpen, balanced it on the toy box, and crawled out.

Then he put everything back in position, leaving no trace of the crime.

Oh, he also learned to escape the pram.
+
Read 7 tweets
23 Nov
Walter 'WW' Read was born on this day, 1855.

An all-rounder in every possible way. He was
- an excellent batsman
- bowled underarm lobs
- bowled roundarm fast
- kept wickets
- led England to two wins in two Tests

He also taught Ranji the leg-glance.
+ Image
The last bit was Ranji's own confession, as mentioned by CB Fry in a 1939 piece titled The Founder of Modern Batsmanship.

Read was in England's squad for the 1882-83 series, and finds a mention on the Ashes urn (check second line, third word).
+ Image
Read's most famous innings came in The Oval Test of 1884.

He came to bat at 181/8 after Australia piled on 551.

Having opened batting, Scotton had characteristically crawled to 53 at the other end.

They added 151, of which Scotton got only 37.
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Read 6 tweets
23 Nov
On this day, 1930, Jack Hobbs refused to play a match in Calcutta.

What happened was like this.

Vizzy had recruited both Hobbs and Sutcliffe for his personal team for the 1930-31 season.

Both had adjusted to India and had got runs by the time the teams moved to Calcutta.
+ Image
After two days of cricket, the score at Eden Gardens read
Bengal Governor's XI 173 and 46, Vizzy's XI 78 and 25/0.

Vizzy had held back Hobbs and Sutcliffe during the chase.

The next day was a Sunday, the rest day of the match.
+
But the hectic scheduling meant that Vizzy's men had to play a one-day one-innings match, against Calcutta Sporting Union – at the Sporting Union Ground.

Sporting Union were not an ordinary side.
+
Read 7 tweets

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