On This Day In Cricket - January 29

29 January is a special day in cricket history because it has seen many unbelievable moments. On this day, India’s Irfan Pathan created a world record by taking a hat-trick in the very first over of a Test match. It is also the day when Australian legend Dennis Lillee began his Test career with a five-wicket haul on debut. This date is remembered for a strange incident in Jamaica, where a Test match was abandoned within an hour due to a dangerous pitch. In addition, January 29 is linked with Michael Bevan’s magical match-winning knock and Adam Gilchrist’s explosive comeback innings. Let’s look at these memorable cricketing moments from this day.

On This Day - January 29, 1971 - Australia’s Dennis Lillee Test Debut

On this day in 1971, Australia’s legendary fast bowler Dennis Lillee made his Test debut. He played against England at Adelaide and impressed straight away. Lillee troubled the English batters with his pace and took 5 wickets for 84 runs in his first innings. Taking five wickets on Test debut was a big achievement and marked the start of a great career.

Dennis Lillee later became one of the most successful bowlers in cricket history. When he retired in 1984, he held the world record for the most Test wickets, with 355 wickets to his name. His partnership with wicketkeeper Rod Marsh was very famous. Together, they dismissed 95 batters and the scorecard entry ‘c Marsh b Lillee’ became the most repeated combination in cricket history, a record that still stands today.

On This Day - January 29, 1992 - Australia Defeats India in Adelaide Test

The fourth Test match between India and Australia on 29 January 1992 ended in a dramatic situation. Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin won the toss and chose to bowl first, a decision that usually did not work well in Adelaide. However, India started strongly and bowled Australia out for just 145 runs in the first innings, taking an important lead of 80 runs. In the second innings, Australia made a strong comeback as David Boon scored 135 and Mark Taylor made 100, helping their team reach 451 runs. This set India a very tough target of 372 runs to win the match.

India did not give up while chasing the big target and fought hard till the final day. Captain Mohammad Azharuddin played an innings of 106 runs and shared a 101-run partnership with Manoj Prabhakar, who scored 64, and boosted India's confiednce for win. However, the match is also remembered for umpiring controversies as eight Indian batsmen were given out LBW. Australian fast bowler Craig McDermott bowled brilliantly in the end and took 10 wickets in the match. India were bowled out for 333 runs and lost the match by 38 runs.

On This Day - January 29, 1998 - The Abandoned Test at Sabina Park

On 29 January 1998, a very unusual and embarrassing incident took place at Sabina Park in Jamaica. The first Test match between West Indies and England was abandoned after just 56 minutes of play, which was only 10.1 overs. It was the first time in 122 years of Test cricket that a match was stopped because of a dangerous pitch. England won the toss and chose to bat, but the pitch was extremely unsafe. The ball sometimes flew over the batsman’s head and at other times stayed very low and hit the body. When the match was stopped, England were 17 for 3.

The pitch was so dangerous that England physio Wayne Morton had to run onto the field six times within an hour, as batsmen, especially Alec Stewart and Graham Thorpe, suffered serious injuries to their fingers and hands. The uneven bounce made the bowling of Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh very risky and hard to face. After discussions with both captains, Mike Atherton and Brian Lara and the match referee, umpires Steve Bucknor and S. Venkataraghavan decided to abandon the match. In the middle of the tense situation, there was one memorable moment when Courtney Walsh, who had just been replaced as captain, put his arm around new captain Brian Lara and stood by him to protect him from the angry crowd.

On This Day - January 29, 2002 - Michael Bevan's Classic Chase at the MCG

On 29 January 2002 at Melbourne, Australia played one of their most memorable matches against New Zealand. New Zealand batted first and scored 245 runs. Australia had a terrible start, as Shane Bond ripped through the top order and six Australian batters were out for just 82 runs, making defeat look certain. At that point, Michael Bevan refused to give up. He played a calm and brilliant unbeaten innings of 102 runs and built crucial partnerships with tailenders Shane Warne and Brett Lee. Thanks to Bevan’s finishing, Australia pulled off a dramatic win by two wickets in the final over.

This match is also remembered for the anger and controversy involving New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming. While batting, Fleming noticed that Australia had more fielders on the boundary than allowed, but the umpire did not call a no-ball at first. Fleming reacted angrily and pointed his bat towards the umpire and the fielders to show his frustration. Although the umpire later signalled a no-ball, the match referee ruled Fleming’s behaviour as unacceptable and fined him 40 percent of his match fee. In the end, Michael Bevan was named Man of the Match for his match-winning innings.

On This Day - January 29, 2006 - Irfan Pathan's First-Over Hat-Trick in Test Cricket

On 29 January 2006 in the Karachi Test, Irfan Pathan created a unique record in cricket history. He took a hat-trick in the very first over of the match, something that had never happened before in Test cricket. On the fourth ball, Salman Butt was caught at slip, on the fifth ball Younis Khan was given LBW, and on the sixth ball Mohammad Yousuf was bowled. Because of this spell, Pakistan were 0 for 3 at the end of the first over.

Irfan Pathan finished the innings with five wickets, but India could not take advantage of his great start. Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal played a strong knock of 113 runs and helped his team recover from trouble. Pakistan’s bowlers then dominated the match and bowled India out cheaply. India lost the Test by a huge margin of 341 runs, and Pathan’s historic hat-trick ended in defeat.

On This Day - January 29, 2006 - Gilchrist’s Explosive Comeback

On 29 January 2006 at the WACA Ground in Perth, Australia’s stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist played a memorable innings. Before this match, Gilchrist was going through poor form and had scored only 58 runs in his last six matches, which put him under pressure. Against Sri Lanka, he found his rhythm again and scored a brilliant 116 runs. He faced just 105 balls and hit 11 fours and 4 big sixes, answering his critics in style.

Gilchrist added 191 runs for the first wicket with fellow opener Simon Katich, who scored 82, making the chase of 234 runs very easy. Gilchrist attacked the Sri Lankan bowlers and even scored 20 runs in one over from Akalanka Ganegama. Australia won the match by 6 wickets with 9 overs, or 54 balls, still left. Gilchrist was named Player of the Match for his strong comeback.