Enthralling Spells of fast bowling - Javagal Srinath vs England, Durban, 2003

India's world cup game against England in Durban in 2003 is widely remembered for Ashish Nehra's mesmerizing spell of 10-2-23-6. Some may remember Sachin Tendulkar's pull for six which sent the Andrew Caddick short ball out of the ground. Others may recall Rahul Dravid's half century while some remember Yuvraj Singh's breezy 38. Only a handful may remember Javagal Srinath's opening spell.

Set 251 to win, Marcus Trescothick opened with Nick Knight for England. Knight was run out early and Trescothick was out in the seventh over off a Zaheer Khan bouncer. While Nehra scalped his first wicket in the 16th over, Javagal Srinath bowled his heart out from the other end. Giving away little, Srinath was unplayable to a large extent that night. As usual at Durban, the target looked insurmountable. Srinath's impeccable line and length troubled the Englishmen, especially Trescothick. He seemed to have no answer to Srinath's swing and was extremely lucky to survive his first 3 overs. He played and missed almost all deliveries. Even the legendary David Gower who was part of the commentary team observed that either Trescothick would ride his luck or the end is near.

After Trescothick got out, Srinath had no trouble in considerably troubling Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan. Bowling at a speed ranging between the late 130s and early 140s (Kmph), the 33 year old must consider himself extremely unlucky not to have got a wicket in his first spell, Hussain and Vaughan were beaten off the pitch, struggled to pick Srinath's length and swing and were even cut into at times with sharp in swingers. But they managed to survive Srinath's opening burst but succumbed to Nehra's swing created from the left armer's different angle.

After a flurry of wickets, Andrew Flintoff went on a rampage before Srinath came back and removed him with a full toss ironically. After all the good-length out and inswingers failed to produce a wicket, Srinath got his first and only one for the day off a wild slog by Flintoff, Though his figures of 10-0-37-1 do not look extra ordinary, numbers do not do justice at times and often reveal less than what they actually should.