Kapil Dev led India to historic win at Lord’s in 1986

By a C de Silva

CRICKET: Kapil Dev - the Indian captain came off with a splendid performance when he, in his 21st Test, did well to beat England by five wickets at the mecca of cricket - Lord’s.

The match was played on June 5,6,7,9 and 10 in 1986.

The Indian sides’s preparations would have been spoilt by the number of days of cricket lost due to rain. What saved the Indian party was the fact that so many of the players were seasoned campaigners who have often been in England.

Furthermore,in Raj Singh, they had an experienced manager who had been in England before and got to know the people following the achievement of winning the one-day series, is a just reward for these concerned with the management of Indian cricket.

When England batted first and got 294 runs, it was simply not enough. The Lord’s wicket had some movement in it and if the dashing Srikhanth was the only wicket taker on the second day, England and particularly the revitalised Dilley, were unlucky not to do better. They had their luck on the third day when the Indian wickets fell all too regularly around the extraordinary figure of Vengsarkar, who, when all is said and done, became not only the truly historic figure of the game, but of the tour itself.

No doubt he will get praise enough elsewhere. Lord’s is not an easy ground. For the nervous it can be unsettling and the starring eyes in the long room have never signalled love and affected even though their appearance can be genuine and heartfelt.

Indian bowlers Roger Binny and Chetan Sharma were two hawkers who did the damage at the start. Binny got three scalps for 55 runs and Sharma had the magical figures of 5 for 64 off 32 overs.

Gooch made 114 and D. Pringle 63. The opening partnership of 66 runs between Gooch and Robinson (35) gave England a kick-start, but the middle order collapsed and it was left for Gooch to carry the brunt of making runs.

Came India’s turn and Dilip Vengsarkar stuck at the wicket to be 126 not out and Amarnath made 69, Azharuddin 33. India did well to make a total of 341-for a slender lead of 47 runs. England were earlier all out for 294.

Came the second innings of England and they fared none too well and were all out for 180. Kapil Dev it was who started the slide at the start and his figures of 4 for 52 in 22 overs pulled England’s batsmen back. Maninder Singh too chipped in with 3 for 9 off a fine spell of 20.4 overs which included 12 maidens.

So, the good bowling by the Indians placed them in a winning position as they had to make only 124 runs for victory in the fourth innings. Kapil Dev saw this as a real challenge and Vengsarkar was there again to steer the Indian vessel with 33 runs while Shastri’s knock of 20 not out and Kapil Dev’s 23 not out put the Indians on course and they got through with 5 wickets to spare, getting 136 for 5 wickets.