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India were reduced to 35-5 in the early stages of
the first one-day international against South
Africa at Hyderabad, with Virender Sehwag , Sachin
Tendulkar , Mohammad Kaif , Rahul Dravid , and
Gautam Gambhir being dismissed for single-digit
scores. The fast bowling trio of Shaun Pollock,
Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel did all the damage.
It's rare for India to get off to a start as
disastrous as this in an ODI at home. In fact, it
was India's worst-ever start in a home ODI.
Following are details pertaining to the four 'next
worst' starts:
* 56-5 vs Sri Lanka at Kanpur, 1986-87: The wicket,
which had 'behaved itself' in a high-scoring Test
between the two sides, was watered and used again
for a one-day international. This time, the wicket
proved to be so unreliable that the highest
partnership in the match was a fourth-wicket stand
of 52 in the Sri Lankan innings. India, chasing a
target of 196, were reduced to 56-5 with seamers
Rumesh Ratnayake and Arjuna Ranatunga making early
inroads. India never recovered and were eventually
bowled out for 78 off 24.1 overs, thus losing by
117 runs.
* 49-5 vs Pakistan at Pune, 1986-87: Pakistan won
the toss and sent India in. Salim Jaffer, a wiry
left-arm fast bowler, was primarily responsible for
the slide. His victims included Raman Lamba, Dilip
Vengsarkar and Sadanand Viswanath. India made a
paltry 120-9 from 42 overs, which was simply not
enough. Pakistan romped home by six wickets and
Jaffer won the coveted Man of the Match award.
* 31-5 vs West Indies at Nagpur, 1987-88: The
Windies batted first and scored 203-8 from their
allotted fifty overs. India were then undermined by
the fiery pace of Patrick Patterson, who took three
wickets in each of his two spells. The Indians were
reeling at 31-5 even before they realized it. The
innings was revived by a heroic 87 off 64 balls by
Kapil Dev. But it proved to be an effort in vain,
as India lost by ten runs. Patterson, who finished
with 6-29, was named Man of the Match.
* 55-5 vs West Indies at Ahmedabad, 1993-94: India
were chasing West Indies' total of 203 in a league
match of the Hero Cup in 1993-94. Against a hostile
pace attack comprising Curtly Ambrose, Courtney
Walsh and Winston Benjamin, India tumbled to 55-5.
A capacity crowd of 50,000 lost patience after
India's mediocre show and started hurling stones
and bottles on the ground. India were ultimately
bowled out for 100 off 28.3 overs to lose the
match. Benjamin, with figures of 3-27, was adjudged
Man Of the Match |