1997
Persistent crowd trouble in Karachi forced the umpires to reduce the second one-day international between Pakistan and India to 47 overs per side. And it was India who triumphed by four wickets to square the series, despite a typically brutal performance from Shahid Afridi. He smeared 72 off 56 balls but the Man of the Match was Sourav Ganguly, whose cool 89 led India past their target of 266 with three balls to spare.
1986
Birth of Martin Guptill, one from the assembly line of New Zealand openers of the 2000s. Guptill broke into the ODI and Test side after a high-scoring 2007-08 domestic season.
2002
The Champions Trophy was shared between India and Sri Lanka after the Colombo final was washed out on consecutive days. On both, Sri Lanka completed their innings before rain ended play. In the second match, played on the reserve day, the Indian spinners suffocated Sri Lanka's scoring, and only fifties by Mahela Jayawardene and Russel Arnold took the hosts to 222. Given the depth of Sri Lanka's slow-bowling attack, it would have probably been a tense chase if torrential showers hadn't ended the game 8.4 overs into India's innings.
1952
Birth of the man at the centre of Test cricket's only forfeit, and one who called Murali. Australian umpire Darrell Hair has never been afraid of courting controversy. Along with Billy Doctrove, he found Pakistan guilty of ball-tampering in 2006. He also no-balled Muttiah Muralitharan during the second Test in Melbourne in 1995-96. Hair followed up by slating Murali's action in his autobiography, and he also called Grant Flower for throwing during the Test between Zimbabwe and New Zealand in Bulawayo in 2000-01. Hair was the neutral umpire during some of the defining moments of Test cricket in the 1990s: Brian Lara's 375, Mike Atherton's 185, Courtney Walsh's 500th Test wicket. But he will forever be remembered as the umpire whose actions led to the first forfeit in the history of the game. The ICC later changed the result to a draw, following pressure from the Pakistan Cricket Board, before changing it back to an England victory in February 2009.
1994
An unwanted milestone for Mark Taylor in Karachi. When he was caught behind off Waqar Younis, Taylor became the first person to bag a pair in his first Test as captain. But in time Pakistan would become a happier hunting ground: four years later Taylor hit 334 in Peshawar to equal Don Bradman's Australian Test record score, before declaring on himself with Brian Lara's 375 in sight.
Persistent crowd trouble in Karachi forced the umpires to reduce the second one-day international between Pakistan and India to 47 overs per side. And it was India who triumphed by four wickets to square the series, despite a typically brutal performance from Shahid Afridi. He smeared 72 off 56 balls but the Man of the Match was Sourav Ganguly, whose cool 89 led India past their target of 266 with three balls to spare.
1986
Birth of Martin Guptill, one from the assembly line of New Zealand openers of the 2000s. Guptill broke into the ODI and Test side after a high-scoring 2007-08 domestic season.
2002
The Champions Trophy was shared between India and Sri Lanka after the Colombo final was washed out on consecutive days. On both, Sri Lanka completed their innings before rain ended play. In the second match, played on the reserve day, the Indian spinners suffocated Sri Lanka's scoring, and only fifties by Mahela Jayawardene and Russel Arnold took the hosts to 222. Given the depth of Sri Lanka's slow-bowling attack, it would have probably been a tense chase if torrential showers hadn't ended the game 8.4 overs into India's innings.
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| Darrell Hair |
Birth of the man at the centre of Test cricket's only forfeit, and one who called Murali. Australian umpire Darrell Hair has never been afraid of courting controversy. Along with Billy Doctrove, he found Pakistan guilty of ball-tampering in 2006. He also no-balled Muttiah Muralitharan during the second Test in Melbourne in 1995-96. Hair followed up by slating Murali's action in his autobiography, and he also called Grant Flower for throwing during the Test between Zimbabwe and New Zealand in Bulawayo in 2000-01. Hair was the neutral umpire during some of the defining moments of Test cricket in the 1990s: Brian Lara's 375, Mike Atherton's 185, Courtney Walsh's 500th Test wicket. But he will forever be remembered as the umpire whose actions led to the first forfeit in the history of the game. The ICC later changed the result to a draw, following pressure from the Pakistan Cricket Board, before changing it back to an England victory in February 2009.
1994
An unwanted milestone for Mark Taylor in Karachi. When he was caught behind off Waqar Younis, Taylor became the first person to bag a pair in his first Test as captain. But in time Pakistan would become a happier hunting ground: four years later Taylor hit 334 in Peshawar to equal Don Bradman's Australian Test record score, before declaring on himself with Brian Lara's 375 in sight.
