Greg Matthews - India Vs Australia 1986-87 and The Second Tied Test

India Vs Australia 1986-87 and The Second Tied Test

There were many heros throughout the exhausting five days of play, but with a doubt, the most unsung of them was Greg Matthews, who scored 44 and 27 not out and took five wickets in each innings. His stamina and resilience were absolutely staggering, especially on the last day, when he bowled 39.5 overs just about consecutively to keep us in the game and then ultimately tie it. Making his feat all the more noteworthy in the eyes of his fellow players was the fact that he wore two sleeveless sweaters throughout the day. Actually, he gave one to the umpire when he fielded and only wore them both when he was bowling. We just shook our heads in disbelief, because it was so hot with 90 degree humidity, but as usual Greg had a theory. He explained that nomadic herders in the desert wore woollen coats because they kept the cool air in, thus acting as a kind of air-conditioner.

Steve Waugh.

Australia toured India at the start of the 1986-87 season and played the First Test at Madras, a huge concrete bowl which radiated the intense heat, which rose to 50°C with 90% humidity. Allan Border won the toss and Australia declared on 574/7 on the third day when Matthews was out for 44. In the Indian innings he took 5/103, his first five wicket haul in Test cricket, as his dismissed Sunil Gavaskar (caught and bowled), Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Ravi Shastri, Chandrakant Pandit and Kapil Dev as India were bowled out for 397. Declining to enforce the follow on in the heat Border batted again and Matthews made 27 not out in Australia's 170/5, which set India 348 runs to win on the last day. Matthews dismissed Srikkanth, Mohinder Amarnath and Pandit as India collapsed from 200/2 to 291/6. His 40th over was the last that could be played in the match, bowling to Ravi Shastri, with India's last man Maninder Singh at the bowler's end. India needed four runs to win from the 6-ball over with only one wicket remaining;

• 1st ball : To Shastri: no run. Four runs required off five balls.
• 2nd ball : Shastri took two runs, retaining the strike. Two runs required off four balls.
• 3rd ball : Shastri pushed the ball to square leg for a single. The scores are now tied, with one run required for victory, but the Indian 11th man was now on strike.
• 4th ball : To Singh: no run. One run required off two balls.
• 5th ball : The ball hit Singh on his back leg and umpire Vikram Raju gives him out leg before wicket after a loud appeal.

India were all out for 347, Matthews having taken 5/146 (10/249 in the match) and the match was the Second Tied Test in cricket history. It was the second and last time that he would take five wickets in a Test innings and the only time that he took ten wickets in a Test match. Dean Jones (210) was 'man of the match', but to applease local opinion so was Kapil Dev (119). Greg Matthews was later made 'all-rounder of the match'. The Second Test began with three days rain and Matthews did not bat or bowl. The Third Test was a draw, Matthews taking 4/158 to dismiss Gavaskar, Srikkanth, Amarnath and Mohammad Azharuddin in India's only innings. He took 14 wickets (29.07) and made 91 runs (45.50) in the series, his most successful with the ball.