Best losing performance you have seen?

[OverratedSanity]

That six off McGrath never gets old

 

[Burgey]

Laxman 167 is one of the top 20-30 greatest centuries of all time imo and it was even more incredible considering it was his first hundred, he had no solid place in the side and it was against arguably the GOAT bowling line-up at home while not one other batsman in the side stood up with him.

Was a terrific knock and happy to say I was there for it. Am a massive Laxman fan but one thing I would say militates against it being totally in the very top echelon is the match was dead when he came out to bat.

Was still one for the ages to watch though.

 

[OverratedSanity]

It sits with the astle double and Santa's 192 at Hobart as a great exhibition of strokeplay that was ultimately meaningless. I'd hold these innings in higher regard if they atleast got the team close and lost but it's tough to call them truly great when they were so far from actually changing the course of the match.

 

[honestbharani]

Was a terrific knock and happy to say I was there for it. Am a massive Laxman fan but one thing I would say militates against it being totally in the very top echelon is the match was dead when he came out to bat.

Was still one for the ages to watch though.

Yep.. This and the Cape Town hundreds from Sachin and Azhar are very very similar in that they were breath taking to watch and lighted up a rather one sided and somewhat boring test but ultimately utterly inconsequential and it felt ​inconsequential even when the innings was going on.

 

[h_hurricane]

Kapil Dev's 129 at Port Elizabeth is my favorite performance in a lost cause. When he came to crease, India was five down for nothing and soon it became 6 for 27. It was a thrilling display against peak Donald and co. The second highest score in that innings was 17

This innings epitomized what he was capable with the bat. Unfulfilled talent though highly clutch.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Yep.. This and the Cape Town hundreds from Sachin and Azhar are very very similar in that they were breath taking to watch and lighted up a rather one sided and somewhat boring test but ultimately utterly inconsequential and it felt ​inconsequential even when the innings was going on.

Hmm, I don't think it's fair to say the Sachin Azhar knocks are very similar. They came in a dire situation in the game but that partnership atleast temporarily gave India hope of recovery in the first innings. They're not really the same kind of lost cause go all guns blazing kind of knocks like astle or vvs were.

 

[vcs]

That Sachin-Azhar partnership is one of my favourite '90s cricket memories.

 

[honestbharani]

Hmm, I don't think it's fair to say the Sachin Azhar knocks are very similar. They came in a dire situation in the game but that partnership atleast temporarily gave India hope of recovery in the first innings. They're not really the same kind of lost cause go all guns blazing kind of knocks like astle or vvs were.

I guess you are right but it just felt so inevitable that it was gonna end soon, maybe given the way Azhar was batting more than Sachin. He was going after almost anything and everything.


EDIT: Just realized VVS was there in that test and India opened with WV Raman and Dravid (and Mongia in the 2nd dig instead of Dravid) and also that Sachin did not bat 4 either innings, actually let Sourav bat 4. VVS remained unbeaten having played more than a 100 balls that test too. Damn, a middle order of Dravid, Sachin, Sourav, Azhar, Laxman is like an ATG one for India.

 

[Kirkut]

That Sachin-Azhar partnership is one of my favourite '90s cricket memories.

Babar Azam's 71 was quite close in terms of quality with that knock.

 

[tony p]

v.v.s. laxman's 167 at the s.c.g in1999/00. his first test hundred opening the batting out of 258 in the second innings.

india were thrashed but we got to see how great laxman was against australia.( the first of many). one of my favourite alltime players to watch.

there is a good 15 minutes or so on youtube if you haven't seen it, bill lawry, tony greig & ian chappell are waxing lyrical about the innings.

vvs got hit by brett lee right at the start of his innings too. i think he hit the next ball for four.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Was hit by McGrath and politely caressed him through the covers for four next ball. Actually a pretty nasty bouncer by McGrath, it seamed back into vvs a mile which made it impossible to play.

Have watched that video far too many times.

 

[_Ed_]

Santa's 192 at Hobart

 

[Bijed]

It was the way he got them too. Essentially Ben Stokes/Perera style but just fell short

Even the way Haze got out was like Leach almost got out at Headingley

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Carlos Brathwaite, WC ton versus NZ.
Nicholas Pooran, WC ton versus SL.
Marcus Trescothick, knock in the Natwest Trophy final.

 

[ankitj]

That Sachin-Azhar partnership is one of my favourite '90s cricket memories.

Yeah, against all odds, against all hope, against Donald. As HB said, the fate was inevitable in the game but those 2-3 hours were a delight and one could barely believe it was happening after the carnage in Johannesburg.

 

[pardus]

Yeah, against all odds, against all hope, against Donald. As HB said, the fate was inevitable in the game but those 2-3 hours were a delight and one could barely believe it was happening after the carnage in Johannesburg.

Carnage happened in Durban and not Johannesburg, right? Where India was bowled out for 100 in the first innings and 66 in the second.
India nearly won the next test match in Johannesburg (last South African batsman Allan Donald managed to see off some 20+ balls on the final day in that match).

Cape Town wicket where Azhar-Tendulkar had their partnership in that series was a beautiful batting wicket. Indian batsmen got out because of their own mistakes.
Azhar got run-out and that's how the partnership broke.

Azhar was in mad-max mode that year. He totally dominated that partnership. He came in when Tendulkar was batting on 20 odd, but reached his hundred much before Sachin did.
Azhar's mad-max mode started with the Eden Gardens century in the previous series. That century was also a fantastic performance in a losing cause.

That Cape-town match was the first time I noticed Rahul Dravid. He opened in that match, batted for an hour and scored just 2 runs, before playing himself on to a nothing delivery from Klusener.
But he looked technically brilliant for that hour. The amount of time he had, even against Donald's pace, was very noticeable. Another noticeable thing was the ease and the clarity with which he left deliveries outside off.
That was something I hadn't seen in Indian batsmen for a while.

Nevertheless back then that Indian team just didn't know how to win test matches outside India. After 1986 Test series win in England, all the way till 2002, India won 3 Test matches outside India (not talking about series wins here, just matches).
Against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka in 1993, against Bangladesh in Bangladesh in 2000, and against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe in 2001.

 

[ankitj]

Yes, Durban. Sorry.

 

[honestbharani]

Carnage happened in Durban and not Johannesburg, right? Where India was bowled out for 100 in the first innings and 66 in the second.
India nearly won the next test match in Johannesburg (last South African batsman Allan Donald managed to see off some 20+ balls on the final day in that match).

Cape Town wicket where Azhar-Tendulkar had their partnership in that series was a beautiful batting wicket. Indian batsmen got out because of their own mistakes.
Azhar got run-out and that's how the partnership broke.

Azhar was in mad-max mode that year. He totally dominated that partnership. He came in when Tendulkar was batting on 20 odd, but reached his hundred much before Sachin did.
Azhar's mad-max mode started with the Eden Gardens century in the previous series. That century was also a fantastic performance in a losing cause.

That Cape-town match was the first time I noticed Rahul Dravid. He opened in that match, batted for an hour and scored just 2 runs, before playing himself on to a nothing delivery from Klusener.
But he looked technically brilliant for that hour. The amount of time he had, even against Donald's pace, was very noticeable. Another noticeable thing was the ease and the clarity with which he left deliveries outside off.
That was something I hadn't seen in Indian batsmen for a while.

Nevertheless back then that Indian team just didn't know how to win test matches outside India. After 1986 Test series win in England, all the way till 2002, India won 3 Test matches outside India (not talking about series wins here, just matches).
Against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka in 1993, against Bangladesh in Bangladesh in 2000, and against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe in 2001.

I will forever remember the Jo'burg test more fondly than anything else from that tour. Dravid took on Donald and Co. both in terms of cricket skills and verbals and came out on top. We would have won too but for ****ing rain and Srinath forgetting how to get tailenders out. Klusener showed a different side to his game too and was extremely impressive.

 

[ankitj]

How good was Venkatesh Prasad on that tour. One highlight from his rather forgettable career. Was averaging early 20s or so with >4WPM after the tour.