New Delhi. In Test cricket, many bowlers have done the feat of taking wickets on the first and last ball of the innings. The feat of taking wickets on the first and last ball of an innings in Tests was first achieved by West Indies cricket team’s legendary fast bowler Andy Roberts. he/she dismissed Sudhir Naik on the first ball of the innings and Erapalli Prasanna on the last ball in Calcutta against India in December 1974. Since then, more than a dozen bowlers have done this feat in Tests. West Indies’ left-arm fast bowler Pedro Collins has done this a maximum of 3 times in his/her career of 32 Tests. The special thing is that he/she achieved this feat against Bangladesh all three times and during this time the batsman who got out on his/her first ball was also the same.
South Africa’s Dale Steyn has taken wickets on the first and last ball of the innings twice. Since the first over of the innings is usually bowled by fast bowlers, all except one in the list are speedsters. So far, the only spinner who has done the feat of taking wickets on the first and last ball of the innings is India’s offbreak bowler Ravichandran Ashwin. In 2021-22, Ashwin registered his/her name in this special club against England at his/her home ground Chennai.
Collins became a cricketer after starting with football
Born in Barbados in 1976, Collins initially played football but later chose cricket like other youngsters of that time in the Caribbean island. Along with bowling at a good pace, he/she was also adept at swinging the ball, which made it difficult for the big batsmen to face him/her. Despite this, due to fitness reasons, Collins’ career did not last long and he/she could play only 32 Tests and 30 ODIs between 1999 and 2006. he/she has 106 wickets (best 6/53) in Tests at an average of 34.63 and 39 wickets (best 5/43) in ODIs at an average of 31.07.
2002: Sarkar fell on the first ball, Haq fell on the last ball
Collins first took wickets on the first and last ball of the innings in the Dhaka Test against Bangladesh in December 2002. After this, he/she did this in the St. Lucia and Kingston Tests in 2004. In the Dhaka Test, the West Indies team won the toss and chose to field first and Collins made this decision worthwhile by bowling out Hannan Sarkar on the very first ball of the match and the innings. The last wicket of the innings also went to Collins in the form of Inamul Haque. he/she took 5 wickets for 26 runs in the innings and wrapped up Bangladesh’s first innings at 139 runs and played an important role in the team’s innings victory.
2004: Repeated the feat in St Lucia and Kingston Tests
In 2004, Collins repeated this feat in two Tests of Bangladesh team’s tour of Indies. In the first Test in St. Lucia, which started on 28 May 2004, he/she again dismissed Hannan Sarkar on the first ball of the match and innings. This Bangladeshi opener was LBW this time. Collins ended the opposition team’s innings by bowling Mohammad Rafiq as the 10th wicket. The consolation for Bangladesh, which achieved its first victory after playing 34 Tests, was that it was successful in drawing this Test.
In the match between Hannan Sarkar and Collins in Kingston Test in June 2004, the Caribbean bowler again took a wicket on the first ball. he/she got Sarkar LBW on the first ball of the match and innings and got Tapas Baishya caught by Dwayne Smith on the last ball of the 95th over of the innings as the 10th wicket. Bangladesh’s first innings ended at 284. Collins again dismissed 6 batsmen including Sarkar (10) in Bangladesh’s second innings. By taking 9 wickets in the match, he/she played a key role in the team’s innings victory. Also, he/she became the first bowler in the world to achieve the feat of taking wickets on the first and last ball of the innings 3 times.
Dale Steyn did this feat twice in Tests
South Africa’s legendary fast bowler Dale Steyn achieved the feat of taking wickets on the first and last ball of the innings in 2009 and 2016. In the Johannesburg Test in January 2010, he/she got England captain Andrew Strauss caught by Amla on the first ball of the match and innings and then took the last wicket of the innings in the form of Graeme Swann. South Africa won this test by an innings margin. In the Centurion Test in August 2016, Steyn again took wickets on the first and last ball of the innings against New Zealand. Opening the bowling in the second innings of the Kiwi team, he/she bowled Tom Latham on the first ball and then got Henry Nicholas caught by Rabada and wrapped up the visitors’ innings at 195 runs. The South African team won the test by 204 runs.
India’s Ashwin is the only spinner in this list
Ravichandran Ashwin is the only spinner in the list of bowlers who took wickets on the first and last ball of a Test innings. he/she achieved this feat in the Test that started on 5 February 2021 at his/her home ground Chennai. he/she started India’s bowling in England’s second innings at Chepauk and got Rory Burns caught by Ajinkya Rahane on the very first ball of the first over of the innings. In the same innings, he/she caught James Anderson on his/her own ball as the last i.e. 10th wicket. Ashwin took 6 wickets for 61 runs in this innings. However, despite this, India had to face a defeat of 227 runs in the Test.
tag: Bangladesh cricketer, R Ashwin, ravichandran ashwin, Test cricket, West Indies cricketer
first published : September 23, 2024, 09:47 IST