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June 10, 1986: When India made History at Lord's

June 10, 2020 13:14 IST

Dilip Vengsarkar

IMAGE: Dilip Vengsarkar is the only overseas batsman to score three consecutive centuries at Lord's. Photograph: Adrian Murrell/Allsport/Getty Images
 

On June 10 1986, India created history by registering its first Test win at the Mecca of Cricket -- the famed Lord's Cricket Ground.

Led by the inspirational Kapil Dev, India outclassed England by 5 wickets on the fifth and final day of the first match of the three-Test series.

Electing to bowl, India restricted England to 294 in the first innings despite opener Graham Gooch's 114.

Pacer Chetan Sharma claimed 5/64, while Roger Binny took 3/55.

In reply, Dilip Vengsarkar hit a brilliant century to lead India's strong reply. It was his third ton in a row at Lord's.

Vengsarkar is the only overseas player to achieve the feat.

When last man Maninder Singh came out to bat, Vengsarkar was batting on 90, and held on to complete his century.

'The Colonel' -- as the gritty Bombay batsman was known -- hit 126 not out, putting on a vital 38 runs for the last wicket which helped India take a crucial 47 run first innings lead.

Vengsarkar added 77 runs for the last two wickets, after wicket-keeper Kiran More chipped in with 25.

Mohinder Amarnath hit 69, putting on 71 runs for the third wicket with Vengsarkar.

Sunil Gavaskar did well to see off the new ball with a solid 34 and the young Mohammad Azharuddin, playing his first Test series in England, scored 33.

Kapil then tore through the England top order in the second innings, taking three quick wickets to leave the hosts in a mess on 35/3.

Mike Gatting (40) and Allan Lamb (39) steadied the English ship somewhat, but the hosts could never get back into the contest with left-arm spinner Maninder Singh bowling an inspirational spell of 3/19 in 20.4 overs including 12 maiden overs. At one stage, his figures read 3/9.

Kapil finished with 4/52 as England were sent packing for 180, leaving India 134 for victory.

Krishnamachari Srikkanth perished without scoring, but Gavaskar offered some resistance with 22.

Vengsarkar continued his good form as he made 33 before Kapil finished off the match in grand style with a blistering 23 not out from 10 balls, hitting left-arm spinner Phil Edmonds for four fours and a six.

Ravi Shastri was unbeaten on 20.

This was India's first victory at Lord's in 11 games. They went on to win the second Test at Headingley, thereby pocketing the series 2-0.

India's next Test victory at Lord's took a long time to come when the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team beat England by 95 runs in July 2014.

HARISH KOTIAN