Blast from the past: Pak v SL, 4 October 1996

Everyone knows that Shahid Afridi began his career by scoring a century in 37 balls (OK, if you want to be technically correct, his second match). But what people probably don’t realize is that the match in which this was done was one of the most thrilling games of one day cricket, ever.

Let’s set a bit of context. It was a 4-nation tournament between these two teams, Kenya and South Africa, played in Kenya. Of course, it was always going to be a three-horse race. Nothing extraordinary had happened in the tournament till the last league match. A few people made centuries, including Romesh Kaluwitharana and Jonty Rhodes. Murali picked up 8 wickets for 53 over two matches. And a young legspinner, spotted in the nets, made his debut, bowling tidily for a spell of 10-0-31-0.

Pakistan’s next match was a decisive one. They had won only a single game, against lowly Kenya, and needed to win big time to pip Sri Lanka to the finals against South Africa. So when Saeed Anwar won the toss and set his side into bat, he knew quick runs, and a lot of them, were needed. Saleem Elahi’s 23 off 34 was probably solid but hardly the right way to go about things given that context. So Afridi, whose hitting prowess was seen at the nets, was promoted with the mandate of making a few quick ones.

Boy, oh boy.

Total carnage followed, the type that had never been seen before. This was a 16-year old. Playing his first international innings. The opposition had the best bowlers in the tournament. Plus, he wasn’t using his own bat (he borrowed Waqar’s). Six fours and eleven massive sixes (or DLF maximums, as some might call them) later, Afridi swept one for four to score a century off 37 balls. Off thirty-seven balls! And this was in 1996, long before Lalit Modi made a carnival out of cricket!

Afridi didn’t just sneak past the previous record of 48 balls – he whooshed past it and left it looking like a defensive Test innings in comparison. And in doing so, he also made mincemeat of the previous record holder – taking 41 runs off 11 Jayasuriya balls. And poor Jaya, after this pummeling, became second not just in the fastest-ODI-century lists, but also in the ignominious most-runs-conceded-off-10-ODI-overs, just behind his countryman Asantha de Mel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1fXK33ZqrM&feature=player_detailpage

Incidentally, Afridi started his innings with a dot ball. From then on, though, it was a blitzkrieg, which read: 0 6 1 0 4 0 0 6 0 0 6 6 1 1 6 6 2 6 4 4 0 0 6 6 1 4 1 1 0 4 1 6 0 6 0 2 4 1 0 0. Such was his dominance that when he was dismissed with the score on 186, he had scored 102 off the 126 runs in the partnership. And his partner was no slacker – Saeed Anwar was one of the best ODI players around.

THE REST OF THE MATCH

From then on, of course, things ‘slowed down’ a little. Anwar himself went on to make his 9th ODI century, and Pakistan ended with a more than formidable 371, at that time the second highest ODI total (again, SL held the highest score with 398/6). However, Sri Lanka needed to make just 290 to pip Pakistan to the final. Things didn’t begin too well, with Waqar reducing them to 27/4. From then on, it was a fightback. Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga combined to take the score into the 150s before that man, Afridi, struck, this time with the ball, taking the first of many, many ODI wickets. de Silva hung on and scored a terrific century, but was soon dismissed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=xh3HlkLfq_U

Soon, things came down to the last over. With one wicket left and Waqar Younis already with 4 wickets, the odds were clearly stacked against Sri Lanka making the 11 runs needed to make the final. Oh boy! Chaminda Vaas smacks a six off the first ball, and a four off the 4th, leaving 1 off 2 needed to make the final. Waqar produced a peach of a yorker, bowling Vaas, taking his 5th, and just – but only just – helping Pakistan make it to the final.

Pakistan might have lost that final to South Africa, but this tournament will always be remembered for this match. Shahid Khan Afridi – soon to become one of the most colourful and controversial characters in the game – launched himself, and the match ended in what was an absolute classic.

Match scorecard on Cricinfo: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/66057.html