6 Most Thrilling Last Overs In The Recent History Of Indian Cricket

It doesn’t matter if you missed out on most of the match being caught up with work as long as you get to witness the last over madness. Where’s the fun in watching a match where India effortlessly waltzes to victory? It’s those jittery slog overs that make you sit down till the end, eyes on the screen and ants in your pants.

The last six balls – you either go down with bat shit crazy celebration or take a wise sigh and say “someone has to lose the game”. However, being the Indian cricket, there has been numerous occasions when our team has given us the chance to celebrate. Let’s take a moment to remember some of most thrilling last six balls that turned to India’s favor in recent years. Here we go.

1. India Vs Pakistan – Independence Cup Final (1998)

It was 1998 and setting up a target of 314 was a big deal back then. Pakistan set a mammoth figure on the scoreboard for the Indians to chase and it all came down to the last over with India needing 9 runs. With Nayan Mongia run out in the last delivery of the penultimate over, it was all up to Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Javagal Srinath.

Srinath’s unorthodox shots made the tension even sharper as he ballooned a delivery high up over the mid-wicket – an easy catch but missed by three Pakistani fielders as nobody knew who was chasing. With 3 more runs to score from 2 balls, Kanitkar, finally hit Saqlain Mushtaq for a lofted boundary, driving India to a thrilling victory and immortalizing his name in Indian cricket forever.

 

2. India Vs South Africa – Champions Trophy Semi-Final (2002)

It was a big match against a big team and the Proteas looked relentless. India had put a humble 262 on the board and was defending the total with just two specialist fast bowlers. With Ashish Nehra injuring himself, captain Ganguly had only his wits to rely on. It was the out of the way strategies of Ganguly of making part-time spinners continue the attack against the formidable South African line-up that finally turned India’s hope.

With Rahul Dravid for a wicket-keeper and only Virender Sehwag to rely on the last over, it was a miracle delivery that got Jacque Kallis, the danger man out. That one wicket in the last moment changed everything and soon the South Africans needed 11 of one delivery with Captain Dada almost already celebrating.

 

3. India vs England – Natwest Trophy Final (2002)

The last six balls of the Natwest final between India and England at the mecca of cricket, Lords is one of the most iconic moments in cricketing history. The hosts set a magnanimous total of 324 for the Indians to chase and thanks to a blasting opening partnership between Sehwag and Ganguly, India got a good start. However, soon the middle order started to crumble and it looked as though the match has gone out of India’s hand until Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif took hold of the situation.

With the job far from done, it was again time for a nail-biting last over with Kaif and Zaheer Khan in the middle. As millions of Indian fans waited for that hard earned victory at Lords, Kaif finally took the winning run by throwing himself at the crease like a gazelle that got the world on its feet and Captain Ganguly his shirt off, swinging it in the air.

 

4. India vs Pakistan – ICC World Twenty20 (2007)

It was a new era of Indian cricket with a young team led by a captain who later goes on to become the finest skipper the Indian team had ever seen. It was India vs Pakistan at the finals of the Twenty20 World Cup on the South African soil in Johannesburg and there were no favorites and it was almost impossible to predict anything until the last six balls. Pakistan needed 13 runs to win from the last over and Indian skipper, Dhoni decided to let newcomer, Joginder Sharma to deliver.

As Joginder started off the deciding over with a wide, it didn’t quite look like it was the right decision by Dhoni and it looked more so as the third ball sent over the boundary ropes for a six by Misbah ul Haq. However, it took just one right delivery by Sharma and a wrong shot selection by Haq to have him fly high in the air and get caught by Sreesanth – the last Pakistani wicket falls down six runs short of victory and a young Indian team brings home the first T20 world cup.

 

5. India Vs Sri Lanka – Rajkot (2009)

It was a high scoring match with both teams putting up over 800 runs on the scoreboard. The Indian batsmen set up a target of 414 for the Lankans and what looked like an easy win for the Indians turned a hard match as Sri Lankan batsmen ran towards the target likes sharks at the smell of blood. The match, full of thrill and unpredictability stretched till the very last over with the Sri Lankans needing 3 runs to victory.

What could have been an easy win for Sri Lanka in spite of the mammoth total put by the Indians, turned to be a win for India by a margin of a hairline as Nehra picked up Angelo Matthews whose shot was caught in the on side by Tendulkar. With Matthews gone, the threat was over and India won the game in the next couple of deliveries by 2 runs.

 

6. India Vs Bangladesh – ICC World Twenty20 (2016)

This one’s just fresh in our minds and it’s going to stay that way for a long time to come. It’s 2016 and the cricket frenzy takes a whole new level with all that internet trolling and meme making – India vs Bangladesh was meant to be a thriller and boy, was it spine tingling! In the end, it was just a matter of a single run for the Bangladeshis to bag the match but with Dhoni behind the stumps, it seemed like the longest 22 yards Mustafizur Rahman had ever run on.

As our Captain Cool, ran towards the stumps as well from the other side, it was the most scintillating of moments when Dhoni tipped the bells of the stumps with balls, illuminating the red LED with Mustafizur Rahman yet to make it to the crease.

There’s a reason why they say you can’t predict anything until the last ball in cricket.

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