Sports

Force 10

Anil Kumble joins the immortals.

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Force 10
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February 7, 1999
Pakistan's tour to India 1998-99 was momentous; it was the first time in nineyears that the two sides were clashing in a Test match.The on-field action matched theoff field hype: India lost the first Test, an edge of-the seat thriller at Chennai, by 12runs, despite a heroic 136 by Sachin Tendullkar.

The next Test was at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla, a venue renowned for producingdustbowls. India won a crucial toss but managed just 252, which was still enough to winthem a first innings lead of 80 as Pakistan crumbled to 172. Anil Kumble provided a signof what would follow later, ripping through the middle order to finish with 4 for 75.Ultimately India left their opponents the onerous task of scoring 420 to win on a wicketthat was getting increasingly uneven in bounce.

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The openers, Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi, put together 101 before Kumble started theslide. He had bowled five innocuous overs before lunch, but a change of ends after thebreak made all the difference. Kumble homed in on the rough areas on a good length withunerring accuracy, and soon Pakistan's batsmen were floundering. Afridi was first todepart, nicking one to the keeper, and the next ball, a yorker fired on middle-and-off,found Ejaz Ahmed in front. Inzamam-ul-Haq prevented the hat-trick, but didn't last long,inside edging onto his stumps. Anwar stood firm making 69, but a vicious lifter had himgloving to short leg; Pakistan had now lost six wickets for 27 runs - and all to onebowler.

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Salim Malik and Wasim Akram resisted briefly, but Kumble was not to bedenied. He got through Malik's defences, and then dismissed Mushtaq and Saqlain off thelast two balls of his 26th over. Kumble now had nine in the bag, and was once more on ahat-trick. Javagal Srinath deliberately bowled wide of the stumps to allow Kumble a chanceto take all 10.

Before the start of Kumble's next over, Tendulkar ran up to him, tookhis pullover, and handed it to umpire AV Jayaprakash. The Indians believed it had broughtKumble luck - he had taken at least one wicket in each over that Tendulkar had performed the ritual. It worked this time too. Akram survived two balls, then was caught by VVS Laxman. Feroz Shah Kotla erupted with joy- Kumble had joined Jim Laker as the only bowlers in Test history to achieve the perfect 10. His figures 26.3-9-74-10.

Wisden recognized the enormity of his achievement by ranking it secondin the list of all-time bowling displays. It was a performance which has guaranteed himimmortality.

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