Close Zimbabwe 276 for 9 (Campbell 84, A Flower 71, Marillier 56*) beat India 274 for 6 (Laxman 75, Ganguly 57) by 1 wicket
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A sensational 24-ball 56 by Doug Marillier took Zimbabwe to an improbable one-wicket win in the first of the five-match series. Needing 275 for victory, Zimbabwe seemed to be out of the match after 45 overs – they required 58 off the last five, with only two wickets in hand.

Marillier picked up the gauntlet. He took 10 off the 46th over - by Anil Kumble – with two dabs to the third man fence. Then, he turned the match around in the 47th, scoring 20 runs off the hapless Zaheer Khan. He started with a cracking four through cover, followed it by hoicking a six over square-leg, and then moved to off and scooped the last ball over fine leg for four. The target had been whittled down to 38 off three overs.

Sanjay Bangar removed Tatenda Taibu in the next over – dubiously given out caught by wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra for 8 (252 for 9), but that didn't deter Marillier. With 23 required from two overs, Marillier took on Zaheer again, twice moving across his stumps and hoisting it over the wicketkeeper for fours. When the last over started, Zimbabwe needed just 10.

That came down to six when Marillier slapped Kumble's first ball over cover for four. A couple of singles later, four were needed off the last two balls. Kumble bowled it on off, Marillier got a top-edge as he attempted to sweep, and the ball raced away over the keeper's head. It was a no-ball too, which meant Zimbabwe had won with two balls to spare.

Zimbabwe had begun their run-chase poorly, losing two wickets in five overs. Craig Wishart was bowled by Zaheer for 1 (5 for 1), while pinch-hitter Travis Friend inside-edged on to his stumps for 7 (21 for 2).

Andy Flower and Alistair Campbell retrieved the situation with a 111-run third wicket partnership. Campbell was content to nurdle the singles, while Flower demonstrated the full repertoire of the sweep shot and the reverse-sweep, covering the arc from wide midwicket to third man.

India got a lucky break when Andy Flower played on to an innocuous, wide ball from Kumble for 72 (132 for 3). Captain Stuart Carlisle and Campbell kept it going, but when Carlisle fell, caught by a diving Ajay Ratra off Zaheer for 23 (186 for 4), Zimbabwe lost their way, as the next three wickets fell for 24 runs.

Campbell was trapped in front by Zaheer for a well-compiled 84 (193 for 5), and then Grant Flower chipped a return catch to Harbhajan Singh for 2 (198 for 6). Harbhajan struck again when Heath Streak was caught off the leading edge by Sourav Ganguly for 1 (200 for 7).

And when Dion Ebrahim went, chipping Bangar to Ganguly at long-on for 10, India had the match firmly in their control – till Marillier decided to work up his magic.

Earlier, India's 274 for 6 was built around two half-centuries by VVS Laxman and Ganguly, and some excellent lower-order slogging by Ajit Agarkar.

The openers gave India a rollicking start, and even when Dinesh Mongia departed – caught behind off Streak for 25 (46 for 1) – the momentum didn't slow down. Laxman got into his stride immediately, and with Ganguly motoring along, India were looking at a huge total.

Ganguly was done in by a smart piece of glovework by Taibu down the legside when Ganguly overbalanced in trying to work Marillier off his legs. Ganguly made 57 off 70 balls.

India eased to 136 after 25 overs, but Grant Flower put the brakes with some accurate left-arm spin bowling. He trapped Rahul Dravid lbw for 23 (171 for 3), and conceded just 31 runs in his 10 overs.

Laxman's controlled 75 came to a sad end when he was run-out following a mix-up with Mohammad Kaif (193 for 4). India lost Bangar at the same score, caught by a leaping Friend off Streak for 0, and when Ratra left for 6 (211 for 6), following another misunderstanding with Kaif, India had lost the early momentum completely. Only 64 runs had come in the 17 overs between 25 and 42, but Agarkar injected some much-needed life in the innings with a quickfire 40 off 19 balls to lift the score to 274.

When Zimbabwe lost those four wickets towards the end of their innings, that seemed a safe total. But then Marillier decided to leave his mark on the match.

Teams
India 1 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 2 Dinesh Mongia, 3 VVS Laxman, 4 Rahul Dravid, 5 Sanjay Bangar, 6 Mohammad Kaif, 7 Ajay Ratra (wk), 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Harbhajan Singh, 11 Anil Kumble.
Zimbabwe 1 Alistair Campbell, 2 Craig Wishart, 3 Travis Friend, 4 Andy Flower, 5 Stuart Carlisle (capt), 6 Grant Flower, 7 Dion Ebrahim, 8 Heath Streak, 9 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 10 Douglas Marillier, 11 Gary Brent,

S Rajesh is sub editor of Wisden.com India

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