India score 403 runs in last innings and beat West Indies by 6 wkts!

By A.C. de Silva

CRICKET: Cricket is a game of ifs and buts. If the venue has not been changed.... if (captain Lloyd) had not declared.... if the second new ball had not been taken.... but then, that’s where the fasciation of this funny game lies!

April 12th, 1978 is one of those red-letter days in India’s chequered Test history. On that momentous day, India pulled off an incredible win, becoming in the process only the second side in Test annals to reach 400 in the fourth innings for victory.

It has happened just once 28 years earlier, when Don Bradman’s invincible were challenged to get 404 to win in 345 minutes at Headingley, Leeds in 1948 and got through by 7 wickets.

The irony of it is that India’s triumph was a magical blend of many fortuitous circumstances. The Test had been originally scheduled for the Bourda Ground in Georgetown, Guyana.

But heavy rain compelled a change of venue back to the Queen’s Park Oval in Fort-of-Spain, Trinidad, where the previous Test had been played, India gaining the lion’s share of a drawn encounter. India finally won by 6 wickets and 7th mandatory overs to spare, getting to that magical total of 403 runs in 535 minutes.

Reverting to India’s victory Test at Port-of-Spain 1976, the Windies got off to a bad start, Chandrasekhar the wrecker in an initial score of 52 for 3 with all three wickets for one run in 11 overs deliveries, getting rid of Lawrence Rowe for 18, Roy Fredericks for 27, and Alvin Kallicharran for a ‘duck’. By lunch, Viv Richards and Clive Lloyd had retrieved the situation to 103 for 3 wickets.

After the break, both unleashed the full range of their power-packed strokeplay, Lloyd scoring a belligerent 68 with a six and nine fours in a 124-runs stand in 128 minutes whilst the imperturbable Viv Richards remained unbeaten on 151 in a close of play score of 320 for 5 wickets on the opening day.

Richards 177

The next morning, Richards was seventh out for a magnificent 177 in 342 minutes with 23 fours and two sixes, the last four Windies wickets tumbling for two runs in eight balls. Richards was one of Bishen Singh Bedi’s four victims when the left-arm spin maestro struck a purple patch of three wickets in one over off the first, fourth and fifth balls.

Replying to the Windies total of 359, India struggled all the time against some accurate and purposeful bowling, especially the hostile pace of Michael Holding. By ‘stumps’ on the second day, India had limped to 165 for 5 wickets, bad light ending play about half-an-hour early.

On third morning, Michael Holding produced a crippling spell of 4 wickets for 15 runs in 7.4 overs, finishing with 6 for 65 in India’s tally of 228 just five minutes before lunch - 131 runs in arrears.

India’s fighting qualities now came to the fore as tight bowling and keen fielding severely restricted the scoring rate. At the start of the second innings, only 17 runs were compiled off 14 overs sent down by Madan Lal and Mohinder Amaranath before the spinners came on to shackle and frustrate the Windies. By the close, the total was only 132 for 3 wickets - a lead of 262 runs.

On the fourth morning, the overnight not-out batsmen Kallicharran and Lloyd speeded things up, adding 55 runs in the first hour off 19 overs. But in the second hour only 27 runs strickled through.

Clive Lloyd now made a crucial mistake. He chose to ignore the lessons of cricket history. On this same ground eight years earlier, Gary Sobers has made a challenging declaration, taunting England to get 215 runs to win in 165 minutes, and the Englishmen had pulled off a fantastic win by seven wickets with just three minutes to spare, after trailing by 122 runs on the first innings - an exact parallel.

The bespectacled Windies captain Lloyd declared immediately Kallicharran reached his century, leaving India the daunting task of getting 403 runs to win with time to spare, 535 minutes to be exact. Lloyd was confident his bowlers would do the trick. However, the Windies bowlers failed on this occasion.

Gavaskar 102

He reckoned without a Sunil Gavaskar at his best in his favourite stamping ground. By the close of the penultimate day India was on 134 runs for 1 wicket, with Gavaskar 86 not out.

The Windies now had a fight on their hands.

When Gavaskar fell for 102 with 13 fours within 70 minutes of the start of the final historic day, April 12, 1976, West Indies heaved a sigh of relief. Their biggest stumbling block was removed. Now to mop up.

Not quite. They reckoned without the tenacity and grit of Mohinder Amaranath, prepared to sell his life dearly, and the majestic Gundappa Viswanath in one of his inspired match-winning moods. At lunch, in a total of 197 for 2 wickets, they were still unseparated - Mohinder 38 and Viswanath 15.

The real turning point came at 223 for 2 wickets soon after lunch when Clive Lloyd’s last gamble failed. He claimed the second new ball after 104 overs with India needing 180 runs to win in just about even time.

The tea time, Mohinder was on 64 and Viswanath on 75 were still together in a score of 289 for 2. Only 144 runs more to win in an hour plus 20 overs with eight wickets in hand. It was ‘panic stations’ now for the flustered Windies.

When Viswanath was run out for a heroic 112 in 221 minuets with 15 fours, only 67 runs were required off a possible 22 overs.

When only 11 runs were left for a truly incredible win, Mohinder Amaranth too was run out for an extremely valuable 85 in 442 minutes off 321 balls with 4 fours.

Against all odds, India carved out the shape of victory. As the Iron Duke would have said, surveying the ravaged field battle: “A damned close-run thing. That was a famous victory.”