5 unheralded Indian victories in Tests and ODIs

#4 India beat South Africa by 8 wickets, LG Cup second match, Gymkhana Club Ground, Nairobi, 26 September, 1999

Sunil Joshi finished with a stunning 5/6 from his 10 overs.

Oh look. Its South Africa again.

But surely this was an inconsequential match? Or was there something else to it?

The Gymkhana Club Ground at Nairobi was witness to one of the most unusual one day games ever played. It also turned out to be Sunil Joshis finest hour for India.

It was a curio, really. The sort of thing you would file under special. It was the sheer novelty of it all that makes it stand out and yet, it is often overlooked when talking about notable ODI wins.

For starters, Ajay Jadeja was captain of the Indian team. On paper, it looked like his intention of winning all the league games would be fulfilled, given other participants included a decidedly unthreatening Kenya and Zimbabwe. But first, India had to negotiate the test of South Africa.

South Africa chose to bat first on a moody and volatile wicket. Certainly, despite the unhelpfulness of the conditions, it would not have been unreasonable to assume a South African batting line up full of style and substance would put up a competitive total.

It proved to be an ill advised decision. The South African innings coughed and sputtered like a decrepit car engine before giving way completely two overs from the end. Incredibly, despite batting for 48 overs, the South Africans had only managed to put up 117. Jacques Kallis top scored with 38, and he took 110 balls to get that far.

It was clear that India had profited from the toss despite losing it. They realised the conditions were such that the slow bowlers stood the best chance of benefiting.

To that end, Sunil Joshi (a spinning allrounder), Nikhil Chopra (a batsman) and the well regarded debutant Vijay Bharadwaj (a middle order batsman) all completed their quota of 10 overs.

It was a highly unusual gambit that worked wonders. Bharadwaj gave away just 16 runs from his 10 overs (besides dismissing Kallis), while Chopra picked up three wickets. Even opener Sadagoppan Ramesh and Rahul Dravid got a chance to bowl.

The undisputed man of the match, however, was Sunil Joshi. The Karnataka left arm spinner has a number of interesting career highlights but his best figures were recorded here, and they are a sight worth seeing: 10-6-6-5. Yes, you read that right.

The second innings was almost an embarrassing formality. Ramesh (36) and Sourav Ganguly (38) batted with more cut and thrust than their South African counterparts, though managed objectively modest scores. Their runs, however, proved to be enough, while Bharadwaj and Dravid came on to apply the finishing touches. India did not even have to bat half the allotted 50 overs.