Top 3 tied ODI matches where India came back from the jaws of defeat

In the second one-day match against India at Visakhapatnam, West Indies chasing 322 for a win, were comfortably placed at 221 for 3 in the 32nd over of the innings. Hetmyer was batting on 94 off 63 balls and Shai Hope was batting on 62 off 72 balls. West Indies needed 101 runs off 110 balls at a manageable required run rate of 5.55 runs per over.

West Indies had two set batsmen at the crease who were involved in a fourth-wicket partnership of 143 runs. From there, it was West Indies' game to lose and they very nearly did that. Suddenly, Hetmyer decided to reach his 100 by launching the ball into the orbit, skied a catch to Kohli and India were back in the game.

In the end, India came back from the jaws of defeat to tie the match in which the Indian captain Kohli became the fastest to complete 10,000 ODI runs.

It would have been a heartbreak for the Indian fans had India went on to lose the match on a momentous occasion. To be fair to the West Indian team, they showed a lot of fight and character and did not deserve to lose the match either. In the end, the tie was a fair result for both the teams.

The beauty about a tie match is that the pendulum keeps on swinging from one end to the other and at different points in the game, the two teams involved will feel like having an upper hand before the game turns the other way.

In the end, both the teams will have no regrets for the match ending in a tie. It is a win-win situation for all. At times, it might hurt the better team for the game ending in a tie as India found out recently in their game against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup. For Afghanistan, it was a moral victory against India.

The Indians were involved in a total of 9 tied ODI matches including the one at Visakhapatnam. We are going to have a look at 3 of those tied matches where India came back from the jaws of defeat to achieve an honourable tie.

#1. India Vs Sri Lanka, Adelaide (2012)

Dhoni, the finisher, for once failed to finish

This was the fifth match of the triangular series involving India, Sri Lanka and the host Australia. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first on a good pitch. Vinay Kumar struck in the very first over and the Sri Lankans were wobbling at 28 for 2.

Dinesh Chandimal was in the form of his life as he was involved in two crucial partnerships with Sangakkara and Jayawardene. Sri Lanka with contributions from Chandimal (81), Jayawardene (43) and Sangakkara (31) reached a respectable total of 236 which left India a target of 237 to win.

In reply, India lost Sachin, Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Suresh Raina cheaply and were 118 for 4. At the other end, opener Gambhir was steady and reached his 50 off 62 balls. At the fall of Raina’s wicket, Captain Dhoni joined Gambhir with India requiring another 119 runs in 22 overs.

Gambhir and Dhoni rebuilt the innings with a partnership of 60 runs before Gambhir was stranded on the middle of the pitch on 91 and was run-out by the proverbial “mile”.

When Jadeja joined Dhoni, India needed 59 off 57 balls. But Jadeja did not last long and ended up wasting 10 balls. Luckily for India, they had a strong batting line-up with Ashwin and Irfan Pathan to come.

When Jadeja got out, India needed 53 from 39 balls and the chase, as always, was resting on Dhoni’s shoulders. Ashwin contributed a crucial 14 off 13 balls and put on 28 runs with Dhoni.

In the 46th over bowled by Perera, Dhoni drove Perera down the ground for a six and Ashwin lofted him over extra cover for a four. However, Kulasekara gave away 5 runs only in the 47th over.

India needed 28 off 18, 12 of those balls were to be bowled by death over specialist Lasith Malinga. In the 48th over, Malinga gave away just 4 runs and got rid of Ashwin. India needed 24 off 12 balls.

The 49th over was bowled by Mathews. Irfan Pathan hit a Mathews no-ball for six but was run -out next ball. But Dhoni whipped a four to bring up his 50 then kept the strike with nine needed off the last over of Malinga.

In the last over, Malinga missed two run-out chances before Mathews accounted for Vinay Kumar with a direct hit, leaving Dhoni needing a boundary from the last ball. Dhoni’s slap over cover was crucially stopped by the diving Senanayake but the batsmen scrambled for three to tie.

This tie match was remembered for the blunder committed by umpire S.D. Fry in the 30th over of the Indian innings when he called over after Malinga had bowled 5 balls in the over. Gambhir was supposed to have been on strike for the sixth ball before the umpire got it all wrong. In the end, that one ball would have made all the difference to the final outcome of the match.

What one fails to understand is that in this era of technology-driven cricket why not an opportunity be given to rectify such blatant howlers. This particular error could have been rectified by asking Malinga to bowl 7 balls in his next over. That act would not have hurt the decorum of the game. On the other hand, it would have served justice to the game.

#2. India Vs England, Bengaluru (2011)

Sachin's fabulous century almost went in vain

India met England in the 2011 World Cup match at Bengaluru. India won the toss and elected to bat. Right through that World Cup Sehwag gave India a flying start and in this match too it was no different. In no time Sehwag reached 35 before edging Bresnan's delivery to the keeper.

Gambhir came in and added 134 runs for the second wicket with Sachin. Sachin paced his innings beautifully and accelerated the scoring once Sehwag left. Sachin reached his 50 off 66 balls and Gambhir off 59 balls and got out immediately thereafter.

India reached 200 in the 34th over. Sachin reached his century off 103 balls with the help of 8 fours and 4 sixes. At the other end, Yuvraj forced his way to a 50.

India reached 300 for 3 at the end of the 45th over with Yuvraj and Dhoni at the wicket. However, the Indians lost their way in the last 5 overs losing all the 7 wickets for the addition of just 38 runs. Tim Bresnan took 5 for 48.

England’s reply revolved around their captain Andrew Strauss who was in fine form. Andrew Strauss completed his first 50 off 50 balls. With the England score on 163 for 2 in the 25th over, Ian Bell, on 17, was struck on the pads off the bowling of Yuvraj.

Ian Bell was saved by the technology which was the turning point of the match

Umpire Billy Bowden gave that not out and India reviewed the decision. The replays showed that the ball was hitting the middle of middle stump. On seeing the replays in the giant screen, Bell started walking towards the pavilion. Since Bell was a very long way down the pitch, the Umpire’s not out call stayed. Bell was called back. It was the turning point of the match as Strauss and Ian Bell added 170 runs for the third wicket. From 17, Ian Bell went on to score 69.

At the other end, Andrew Strauss was quite aggressive in his intent and reached his hundred off 99 balls. He took another 36 balls to reach his 150. England reached 280 for 2 in 42 overs needing another 59 runs in 8 overs. It looked like it was all over for team India.

Andrew Strauss scored an unbelievable hundred

It was then that England had decided to take the third powerplay which brought India back into the game. Dhoni decided to bring back Zaheer Khan for the batting powerplay. In his earlier spell of 7 overs, Zaheer had conceded 53 runs. With the fourth ball of the batting powerplay, Zaheer struck by removing Ian Bell. Off the very next delivery, Zaheer trapped Strauss in front for a well made 158.

With both the set batsmen gone, India were back in the game. Panic started to set in the England dressing room. At the fall of successive wickets, Dhoni wisely brought in Chawla for the 44th over and he gave away only 2 runs. The pressure started to mount on England.

Paul Collingwood tried to hit his way out of trouble and was knocked over by Zaheer. In 4 overs India managed to claim 3 wickets for the addition of only 9 runs. Harbhajan helped India’s cause by removing Matt Prior in the 46th over but gave away 10 runs. England needed 42 runs in the last 4 overs with 4 wickets in hand. That was when Dhoni ran short of ideas and bowlers.

Instead of asking Chawla to bowl the 47th over, Dhoni gave the ball to Zaheer to bowl his last over. That left Chawla to bowl the 49th over. England needed 29 runs off the last 2 overs with 3 wickets in hand.

Chawla bowled the 49th over and Swann and Bresnan helped themselves to a six each. It was down to 14 runs in the last over which was bowled by Munaf Patel. Of the 3rd ball of the last over, England’s unknown fast bowler Shahzad hit Munaf Patel straight down the ground for a six. England needed 5 off 3 balls. Thankfully for India, Shahzad failed to connect the next ball.

It boiled down to 2 runs to win off the last ball or 1 to tie. Swann drove Munaf Patel straight to mid-off and ran the single to tie the match. There was no chance of a second run. More than England, it was India who were more relieved with the result. India came back from certain defeat to tie that match.

While the home team India went on to win that World Cup, England, after showing a lot of promise, were knocked out by Sri Lanka in the quarter-final.

#3. India Vs New Zealand, Auckland (2014)

Jadeja and Ashwin came to India's rescue with the bat

This was the third match of the 5-match ODI series between India and New Zealand. New Zealand won the first two matches of the series quite comfortably. Thus, India were desperate to win the third match to stay alive in the series.

India won the toss and elected to bowl first. It proved to be a wrong decision as New Zealand amassed 314 runs on the back of a century from Martin Guptill and a half-century from Williamson.

India began the run chase needing 315 to win against a strong New Zealand bowling attack. The Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan gave India a flying start adding 64 runs in 10 overs before Dhawan got out.

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ajinkya Rahane all got out quickly and India were reduced to 79 for 4 and staring at certain defeat.

Dhoni and Raina added 67 runs for the fifth wicket before Raina got out. Again when the sixth wicket of Dhoni fell at the score of 184, the writing was very much on the wall for India. Then the most unexpected turn of events unfolded.

When Ashwin and Jadeja joined together for the 7th wicket, India needed 131 runs in 14 overs at almost 10 runs per over. The no-hope situation propelled both the all-rounders to go for their shots without any fear of losing their wickets. By the time Jadeja joined Ashwin, Ashwin had a start scoring 20 off 19 balls.

While allowing Jadeja to settle down, Ashwin launched into McClenaghan and Corey Anderson hitting 3 fours in 2 overs. Jadeja too joined in the act quickly hitting 2 fours and a huge six off Tim Southee.

India needed 84 off the last 10 overs. Ashwin was playing his best one-day innings as he completed his 50 playing a reverse sweep off Nathan McCullum. By now Captain Brendon McCullum was a worried man. He was not expecting this fight back from Ashwin and Jadeja. The 42nd over bowled by Southee went for 10 runs.

Both Jadeja and Ashwin got a life off successive balls in the 43rd over bowled by Nathan McCullam. Jadeja was dropped by Southee and off the next delivery, keeper Luke Ronchi missed an easy stumping when Ashwin was way down the wicket.

India needed 54 off 36 balls. The 45th over bowled by Nathan McCullum was an eventful one. Ashwin came down the track to the first ball and lifted McCullam over his head for a six. However, in the fifth ball of that over, Ashwin lifted one over mid-wicket and as the ball was climbing over the rope, Martin Guptill somehow reached for it and popped it with one hand to the field of play and came back in time into the field to complete a magnificent catch.

Ashwin departed after scoring 65 off 46 balls. India needed 46 off 31 balls. Bhuvi and Shami got out quickly and India needed 29 off 13 balls when last man Varun Aaron joined Jadeja. Jadeja was batting on 43.

McClenaghan bowled the 49th over. Jadeja hit the second ball for a six over mid-wicket. Jadeja was dropped at third man off the third ball of that over and in the process, Jadeja completed his 50 off 38 balls.

Corey Anderson was entrusted with the job of bowling the last over for New Zealand. India needed 18 runs off 6 balls which looked impossible. Jadeja went after the first ball and hit a four through mid-wicket. After bowling a couple of wides, Anderson bowled 2 dot balls. Now the equation was 12 off 3.

Jadeja hit the fourth ball for a four through fine leg. Now the pressure was getting on to Corey Anderson. Anderson bowled a short one which Jadeja effortlessly hammered over deep mid-wicket for a six. Now 2 needed off 1.

Anderson finally got it right and bowled a full-length delivery on the off-stump. Jadeja had no other option except to push it mid-off to complete the single and tie the match. What a match it turned out to be.

When Dhoni got out in the 35th over, India were down and out before Ashwin and Jadeja started the rearguard act with a partnership of 85. After Ashwin’s dismissal, it was Jadeja all the way as he went on to score 31 of the last 45 runs needed to win. Jadeja finished with 66 not out off 45 balls to earn India a tie from a losing position.