West Indies and India two other teams involved in exciting finishes...

Aussies figure in two 'tied' Test matches

By A.C.de Silva

CRICKET: Test cricket can be very exciting when the results of matches are close. Two of the most exciting Test matches within the last 50 years was witnessed when Australia were involved in two 'tied' matches.

First, it was in 1960 in Brisbane in December when West Indians and Australia played put an exciting 'tie'. West Indies batting first, made 453 and in their second innings, the Windies made 284. Then Australia made 505 in their first innings and 232 in the second innings.

Then came the clash between Australia and India at the Chidambaram Stadium in Madras. Australia made 574 for 7 wickets declared and 170 while India made 397 and 347 in their first and second innings.

500th Test in International Cricket

It was the 500th game of Test cricket and what a memorable occasion it was! The game was between Australia and the West Indies from December 9 to 14 in 1960 in the town of Brisbane in Australia. It turned out to be an exciting game. The match finally ended in a "tie" - the first such result in Test cricket.

The match will always be remembered with enthusiasm for the excellent cricket. It was played in a most sporting spirit with the climax coming in a tremendously exciting finish as those Australian wickets fell in the final over.

Australia set to make 233 runs at a rate of 45 runs and hour for victory, crumbled before the fiery sustained pace of Wesley Hall and lost five wickets for 57 runs. The 6th wicket fell at 92 - Ken Mackay bowled by Sonny Ramadhin. Alan Davidson - a superb left-hander joined skipper Richie Benaud and added 134 runs for the 7th wicket. Australia then needed 124 runs in 120 minutes with four wickets in hand.

The two were still together half-an-hour before time, with 27 runs needed for victory, when the giant Hall, took the new-ball at a very crucial stage.

The West Indies fielders often at fault during the early part of the match, rose to the occasion, so that three of the last four wickets to fall were run-outs in the desperate race against time.

The first run out came when Benaud called for a sharp single, but Joe Solomon, always light on his toes, hit the stumps from an acute angle to dismiss Alan Davidson who scored 80 - the highest score in the Australian second innings. Wally Grout - the ever vigilant wicket-keeper came in and took a single off Gary Sobers, so that when the last momentous over from Wesley Hall began, six runs were needed with 3 wickets to fall.

Aussie wickets fall

The first ball from Hall's over hit Grout on the thigh and a leg-bye resulted. Benaud swung mightily at the second ball and was caught by the West Indies wicket-keeper Gerry Alexander off Hall. Benaud made 52. Ian Meckiff - the controversial pace bowler, played the third ball back to the bowler, but when the 4th ball went through, to the wicket-keeper, the batsmen scampered for a single. Hall missed a chance to run out Meckiff as the wicket-keeper threw the ball to him.

Grout hit the 5th ball high into the air, Hall attempted to take the catch himself, when his teammates ran to his aid. But the ball bounced off his hands and another run was scored. Meckiff hit the 6th ball hard and high to leg, but Conrad Hunte cut it off the boundary, as the batsmen turned for the third run, which would have given the Australians victory.

However, Hunte threw in superbly low and fast and Grout was run out by a foot. So, Lindsay Kline, left-arm slow-bowler, came in to face the last two balls with the scores level.

The crowd was tense and deep silence prevailed all over the ground. Kline played the 7th ball towards square-leg and Meckiff backed-up well, raced down the wicket, only to be run out when Solomons again threw down the wicket with only the width of a wicket as his target. So, ended a match in which both sides had serious thought for victory with no thought of safety first.

So, Australia were all out for 232 runs in their second innings and with their first innings total of 505 runs, made a total of 737 runs in the two innings.

Norman O'Neill made 181 in the first innings and to back him up, there was Bob Simpson 92, Colin McDonald 57, Les Favell 45, Allan Davidson 44 and Ken Mackay 35.

West Indian paceman Wes Hall had 4 for 140 in the first innings and 5 for 63 in the Australian second innings total of 232.

Hall top allrounder

West Indies who batted first, made 453 runs in the first innings with Garfield Sobers making 132, skipper Frank Worrell and Joe Solomon making 65 runs a piece, Alexander 60 and Wes Hall 50.

Alan Davidson took 5 for 135 and Lindsay Kline 3 for 52.

West Indies in their second innings, made 284 and with their first innings big score of 453, the Windies had a total of 737 runs - the identical total scores made by Australia as well.

Alan Davidson - the top allrounder in the Australian side, had a good match, both with bat and ball. In the first innings, he took 5 for 135 in West Indian first innings and then after making 44 while batting in the first innings and followed it up with 80 in the Australian second innings total of 232, Davidson had a good 'bowl' in the West Indies second innings and took 6 for 87 in the West Indies total of 284 runs.

WEST INDIES - 1ST INNINGS
C. C. Hunte c Benaud b Davidson 	 24
C. W. Smith c Grout b Davidson		  7
R. B. Kanhai c Grout b Davidson		 15
G. A. Sobers c Kline b Mekiff		132
F. M. Worrell c Grout b Davidson	 65
J. S. Solomon hit wkt b Simpson 	 65
P. D. Lashley c Grout b Kline		 19
F. C. M. Alexander c Davidson b Kline	 60
S. Ramadhin c Harvey b Davidson		 12
W. W. Hall st. Grout b Kline		 50
A. L. Valentine not out 		  0
EXTRAS					  4
TOTAL					453
	—-
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-23, 2-42, 3-65, 4-239, 5-243, 
6-283, 7-347, 8-366, 9-452.
BOWLING: A. K. Davidson 30-2-135-5, I. Meckiff 18-0-129-1, K. Mackay 3-0-15-0, 
R. Benaud 24-3-93-0, B. Simpson 8-0-25-1, L. Kline 17.6-6-52-3.

AUSTRALIA - 1ST INNINGS
C. C. McDonald c Hunte b Sobers		 57
R. B. Simpson b Ramadhin 		 92
R. N. Harvey b Valentine 		 15
N. C. O’Neil c Valentine b Hall		181
L. Favell run out 			 45
K. D. Mackay b Sobers			 35
A. K. Davidson c Alexander b Hall	 44
R. Benaud lbw b Hall			 10
A. T. W. Grout lbw b Hall		  4
I. Meckiff run out			  4 
L. F. Kline not out			  3
EXTRAS					 15
	
TOTAL					505
	—-
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-84, 2-138, 3-194, 4-278, 5-381, 6-469, 7-484, 8-489, 9-496
BOWLING: W. Hall 29.3-1-140-4, F. Worrell 30-0-93-0, G. Sobers 32-0-115-2,
A. L. F. Valentine 24-6-82-1, Ramadhin 15-1-60-1.

WEST INDIES - 2ND INNINGS
C. C. Hunte c Simpson b Mackay 		39
C. W. Smith c O’Neil b Davidson		 6
R. B. Kanhai c Grout b Davidson		54
G. A. Sobers b Davidson			14
F. M. Worrell c Grout b Davidson	65
J. S. Solomons lbw b Simpson		47
P. D. Lashley b Davidson		 0
F. C. M. Alexander b Benaud		 5
S. Ramadhin c Harvey b Simpson		 6
W. W. Hall b Davidson			18
A. L. Valentine not out			 7
EXTRAS: 				23
	—-
TOTAL:					284
	—-
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-13, 2-88, 3-114, 4-127, 5-219, 6-210, 7-241, 8-250, 9-253.
BOWLING: A. Davidson 24.6-4-87-6, I. Mekiff 4-1-19-0, K. Mackay 21-7-52-1, 
R. Benaud 31-6-69-1, R. B. Simpson 7-2-18-2, L. Kline 4-0-14-0, N. O’Neil 1-0-2-0.

AUSTRALIA - 2ND INNINGS
C. C. McDonald b Worrell 		16
R. B. Simpson c Sub (Gibbs) b Hall	 0
R. N. Harvey c Sobers b Hall		 5
N. O’Neil c Alexander b Hall		26
L. Favell c Solomon b Hall		 7
K. D. Mackay b Ramadhin			28
A. K. Davidson run out 			80
R. Benaud c Alexander b Hall		52
A. T. W. Grout run out			 2
I. Meckiff run out			 2
L. F. Kline not out 			 0
EXTRAS:					14
	—-
TOTAL					232
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-1, 2-7, 3-49, 4-49, 5-57, 6-92, 7-226, 8-228, 9-232.
BOWLING: W. Hall 17-7-63-5, F. Worrell 16-3-41-1, G. Sobers 8-0-30-0, 
A. L. Valentine 10-4-27-0, S. Ramadhin 17-3-57-1.