Snedden’s ‘hundred’

Cannon fodder…that’s what the New Zealand bowlers were for the England batsmen at The Oval. Here Ian Botham lifts Martin Snedden during a group match. Snedden went for 105 runs — the most by a bowler in a match in all World Cup competitions.-PIC: THE HINDU PHOTO LIBRARY

Martin Snedden had a forgettable opening match in the 1983 edition. The England batsmen hammered the New Zealand seamer for 105 runs on a lovely batting pitch at The Oval on June 9. The New Zealand bowlers were like lambs to the slaughter, as Allan Lamb made 102 runs. England made 322 and beat New Zealand by 106 runs.

Other bowlers who proved expensive in the competition were Paul Allott (82 against Sri Lanka at Taunton) and Roger Binny (71 against the West Indies at The Oval).

There were 57 instances of bowlers conceding over 50 runs, but Snedden still holds the ‘infamous’ record of being the only bowler to have conceded in excess of 100 runs in a match in all World Cup competitions.

First-ball ducks

As many as nine batsmen were embarrassing victims of first-ball blues. They were: Ijaz Faqih (Pakistan) versus Sri Lanka at Headingley (June 16), Peter Rawson (Zimbabwe) versus Australia at Southampton (June 16), Jack Heron (Zimbabwe) versus West Indies at Edgbaston (June 20), Arjuna Ranatunga (Sri Lanka) versus Pakistan at Headingley (June 16), Ian Butchart (Zimbawe) versus Australia in Southampton (June 16), Ian Botham (England) versus Sri Lanka at Taunton (June 11), David Houghton (Zimbabwe) versus Australia at Trent Bridge (June 9), Paul Allott (England) versus New Zealand at Edgbaston (June 15) and Vinothen John (Sri Lanka) versus England at Taunton (June 11).

Retired hurt

India’s Dilip Vengsarkar and Australia’s Graeme Wood were the only two batsmen forced to retire hurt in the competition. Vengsarkar was going great guns (32 batting) against the West Indies at The Oval (June 15) when he was struck on the face by a climbing delivery from fast bowler Malcolm Marshall. His retirement stalled India’s chase of 283. (West Indies eventually won the match by 66 runs.)

At Headingley (June 11-12), Wood (2) could not duck or sway away from a Michael Holding bouncer and was hit. It was the same match in which Winston Davis — who got a chance to play because Marshall and Joel Garner were injured — claimed seven wickets to help West Indies win the match.

Run out without scoring

Athula Samarasekera (Sri Lanka), Ian Botham (England), Abdul Qadir (Pakistan) and Balwinder Singh Sandhu (India) suffered the mortification of being run out for zero. The details are: Samarasekara versus Pakistan at Swansea (June 9), Botham versus Sri Lanka at Taunton (June 11), Qadir versus England at Lord’s (June 13) and Sandhu versus West Indies at The Oval (June 15).

G. Viswanath