Video: India-Pakistan bowl out in 2007 World T20
Cricket has had trysts with many experiments in its long history. While some become hugely successful, others don’t pass the test of time, yet are remembered for the magical moments they produced.
One such experiment was the use of ‘bowl-out’ to decide the winner of a tied match. The most memorable bowl-out in international cricket happened on 14th September 2007 between India and Pakistan in the 2007 World T20 in Durban.
After scores were tied at the end of 20 overs, both teams lined up to have a throw at unguarded stumps. With 5 attempts for each team, the scene had an air of penalties in football.
For India, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa bowled the first three attempts, while Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi went first for Pakistan. With India hitting all three and Pakistan missing all their attempts, it ended up being a very one-sided bowl out.
The first ever bowl out in the history of cricket happened in 1991 in a Natwest Trophy match between Hertfordshire and Derbyshire in June 1991. After the failure to stage the match even after the reserve day, the winner was decided by a bowl-out contest, which Hertfordshire won 2-1.
The first ever bowl out in international cricket took place when New Zealand and West Indies tied a T20I in 2006. New Zealand won the contest 3-0.