On this day in 1997, cricket fans witnessed one of the most thrilling One-Day Internationals in the history of the game. Zimbabwe was hosting the Kiwis for the Test and ODI series. Earlier, the Test Series was drawn and then came the turn of One-Day Internationals.
Disappointing Start for Zimbabwe
The ODI series kicked off at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Zimbabwe Captain Alistair Campbell won the toss and elected to bat first in sunny conditions. Gavin Rennie and Grant Flower opened the innings for the Chevrons but the start was rocky for Zimbabwe. Shayne O’Connor gave the first breakthrough to Zimbabwe by dismissing Gavin Rennie and catching him out to Stephen Fleming. O’Connor did not stop there as he sent back the opposition captain Alistair Campbell. Zimbabwe was under the pump in the powerplay with two quick blows.
Then came out to bat Andy Flower and built a partnership with his brother Grant Flower. The Flower brothers gave some stability to Zimbabwe as they added 79 runs for the 3rd wicket partnership. But then Right-arm medium pacer Gavin Larsen broke this key partnership by uprooting Andy Flower’s wickets. Grant Flower stayed on the crease and progressed the innings with right-handed Guy Whittall before the latter was troubled by Larsen. Larsen again assisted his Captain Stephen Fleming by breaking another budding partnership.
Gutsy lower order managed to put up a decent total on the board
Zimbabwe were in a spot of bother as they also lost Grant Flower in very quick succession. Dave Houghton played a gritty knock of 40 and took Zimbabwe beyond the 200 mark with small but important partnerships. Craig Evans and Paul Strang stood strong with Dave Houghton. Strang went back to the pavilion unbeaten with 17 runs in his tally and managed to put up a fighting total of 233 courtesy of a partnership with John Rennie.
Problem for the Kiwis
The target looked chasable for the Kiwis as they had a decent batting lineup with the likes of Nathan Astle and Stephen Fleming in the top order & Chris Cairns and Craig McMillan providing solidity to the middle order. Daniel Vettori with his batting abilities gave depth to the Kiwi batting lineup.
But the Chevrons had different intentions. They were determined to make the Kiwis struggle to chase the target. John Rennie dismissed both the Kiwi openers, Craig Spearman, and Nathan Astle, to give early blows. Captain Stephen Fleming was also sent cheaply for 19 runs by Guy Whittall, a handy allrounder with clever and economical bowling. New Zealand was reeling under pressure with 49/3 on the board. Meanwhile, Matt Horne stood strong and added a few runs with Chris Cairns before Cairns got out to Craig Evans. The Kiwi batting lineup started to collapse like a deck of cards with breakthroughs at regular intervals. New Zealand lost 6 wickets before they put 100 runs on the board. Matt Horne and Chris Harris stabilized the ship for a while as Horne completed his half-century. Horne took the road back to the pavilion quickly after completing his half-century. Chris Harris was looking solid and he was helped by young all-rounder Daniel Vettori. They stitched a crucial partnership of 41 runs before Vettori lost his wicket.
A thrilling finish to a nail-biting encounter
Gavin Larsen who had a great with the ball came out to bat and assisted impressive-looking Chris Harris. Gavin Larsen not only stood strong at the crease but scored runs quickly. The match went till the last ball. New Zealand missed out on crossing the last barrier as Zimbabwe managed to tie the match. This match went through crest and trough for both sides and at the end, they cancelled each other out to produce a nail-biting encounter for cricket fans.