(04-02-2016, 05:19 AM)The One Wrote:(04-02-2016, 04:07 AM)McLovin Wrote: It was a great counter-attacking knock no doubt about that but what I'm trying to say is that imo it's over-rated due to the end result. Fortunately for us we had an amazing and inform middle to lower order that WC easily the best we have ever had. When Ara got out we were still in a hole at 85/4 but our middle and lower order managed to get us to 250+ which was a very good total on that wicket (ave score chasing there was only around 200). Before that semi only once had a team failed to defend 250+ at Eden gardens and that I'm pretty sure was on a much better batting track looking at the scorecard.
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/ground/57980.html?class=2;filter=advanced;orderby=team_score;spanmax1=13+mar+1996;spanval1=span;template=results;type=aggregate;view=innings
His final knock tho was ATG. Saw the side through to a WC win from beginning to end against a quality attack and side. Add the 3 crucial wickets and the catches and It doesn't get any better than that.
No here's the difference; you are going simply by the scorecard which doesn't paint the whole picture. Yes it was 85/4 when he got out, but the crucial thing here is not the scoreboard; he set the tone for hte innings. Sanath + Kalu were the pair everyone was feared, so when they were out Indians were well and truly on top, but then Ara stepped up and continue counter attacking, which Indians hadn't banked on at all. So even though they got out the pair they thought that mattered the most, they were still on back foot.
The second important part was, although we had decent batting to come we did't have tailenders to finish with a flurry, so say Ara didn't coutner attack like that nad we scored slowly. Then it would have left too much to do for Arjuna, Hashan and Mahanama, they weren't the ideal players to counter attack like that. So Ara compensated for the wickets of Sanath and Kalu by maintaining such a good rate, our lower order had the cushion of being able to take their time and rebuild the innings.
None of those factors show up in the scorecard, you need to know the match situation.
Which is why it is one of the greatest ODI innigns of all time, taken the gravitiy of the situation.
We still scored close to 5 an over after Ara got out. With the field restrictions over that’s a fair clip given the pitch, slow bowlers and the older ball I would say. Ara is known for counter-attacking and playing his shots tho that’s just the way he played. So I don’t see how India would have been at all surprised to see him take on the bowlers like that. Yes he shifted the momentum and gave us a bit of a buffer but that doesn’t change the fact that we were still in a precarious situation when he got out. Had the middle order collapsed like we are so used to seeing from our sides since those days then that would have been it for us. The knock although a good one would have then been pretty much forgotten few years down the line. Whereas say his knock in the final that one I’m sure would have ended up there with the best regardless of the result.
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