SK Flashback: Remembering one of the biggest yet forgotten upsets in cricket history

Duncan Fletcher’s all-round performance helped Zimbabwe register a surprise victory over Australia at the 1983 World Cup

Zimbabwe, who became an associate member of the ICC in 1981, played their first World Cup in 1983 in England. They were the biggest underdogs of the tournament and being pooled alongside Australia, India, and West Indies, they were expected to lose all their group games.

In their first match of the tournament, Zimbabwe were up against Australia who were led by Kim Hughes and had the likes of Allan Border, Rod Marsh, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson in their squad.

Duncan Fletcher takes Zimbabwe from 94/5 to 239/6

The match was held at Edgbaston and Zimbabwe were put in to bat first. They were off to a slow but steady start as openers Ali Shah and Grant Paterson batted patiently and put up 55 runs for the first wicket before Dennis Lille dismissed both openers for 16 and 27 respectively.

Then, Jack Heron and Andy Pycroft added 31 for the third wicket before both were dismissed by Graham Yallop and Alan Border respectively. Following Dave Houghton’s dismissal, Zimbabwe were struggling at 94/5 and skipper Duncan Fletcher and Kevin Curran were on the crease.

The duo batted with a lot of composure, dealing in mainly ones and twos while hitting boundaries occasionally. The duo added 70 for the sixth wicket before the latter was dismissed for 27.

Following Curran’s dismissal, Iain Butchart joined Fletcher at the crease and began to play steadily while the latter got to his fifty. Fletcher and Butchart added 45 for the 7th wicket as Zimbabwe ended their innings at 239/7 from their 60 overs with the former scoring 69 from 84 deliveries and the latter scoring 34 from 38 deliveries.

Fletcher’s all-round performance humbles Australia

In reply, Australia were off to a steady start as openers Graeme Wood and Kepler Wessels batted with a lot of composure and added 61 runs for the opening wicket. At this point, Duncan Fletcher came in and after impressing with the bat, he impressed with the ball as well and broke the opening partnership by dismissing Wood.

Subsequently, he dismissed Aussie captain Kim Hughes for a duck.

Following Hughes’s dismissal, Wessels and Derek Hookes added 51 for the 3rd wicket during which the opener reached his fifty. Once again, Fletcher broke the partnership by dismissing Hookes for 20.

Fletcher then took his fourth wicket by dismissing Graham Yallop and Australia were 133/4. However, with Wessels present, the team from down under did not have much to worry about. Then, disaster struck as Wessels was run out for 76 and Australia were down to 138/5.

Following Wessels’s dismissal, Rod Marsh came in to join Allan Border at the crease. The duo added 30 for the 6th wicket before Border was dismissed by Kevin Curran for 17 and Geoff Lawson followed suit.

The required run-rate was gradually rising for Australia as they were 176/7 with Rod Marsh and Rodney Hogg at the crease. Both players began to bat steadily towards the end of the innings, and Marsh reached his fifty off just 42 deliveries.

However, the Zimbabwe bowlers bowled well enough to keep Australia at bay and the 1975 World Cup runners-up eventually fell short by 13 runs. Duncan Fletcher was adjudged the Man of the Match for his all-round performance that included figures of 4/42 from 11 overs in addition to his 69 with the bat.

Zimbabwe lost all of their remaining matches at the tournament but produced one of the biggest upsets of the 1983 World Cup by defeating Australia.

Over the years, there have been numerous upsets at the Cricket World Cup including Ireland stunning Pakistan, England, and West Indies in 2007, 2011, and 2015 respectively and Kenya stunning Sri Lanka in 2003 but there is no denying the fact that Zimbabwe’s 13-run win over Australia at the 1983 World Cup is one of the biggest upsets in cricket history.

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Edited by Staff Editor