Read the article of India vs England 5th ODI 1985 - England tour of India 5-match one-day international series of the 5th ODI match played between England and India at Sector 16 Stadium, Chandigarh in 27th January 1985.
Chris Cowdrey stars as England thrilling 7-run victory over India, despite a fighting Innings from All-rounder Ravi Shastri's half-century and clinch the five-match series with 4-1 in a rain-hit 15-overs-a-side game of the fifth ODI.
England scored 121-6 in the alloted 15 overs with top scorer by Allan Lamb hammered a unbeaten 33 off 19-balls including 2-sixes & 2-fours with strike rate of 173.68.
Mike Gatting scored 31 off 29-balls including 2-fours, David Gower hit 19 off 13-balls included one-six & a four and Graeme Fowler 17.
India best bowler by Thirumala Sekhar picked up 3-wickets for 33-runs in 23-runs in 3-overs and Ravi Shastri took one-wicket.
India scored 114-5 in 15 overs with top scorer by Ravi Shastri struck 53 off 45-balls including 5-fours, Kapil Dev 17 and Mohammad Azharuddin 10.
England best bowler by Phil Edmonds took 2-wickets and one for Chris Cowdrey.
This match reported by Michael Carey (Third Party Reference from The Daily Telegraph)
TWO crucial contributions by Chris Cowdrey, who ran out Ravi Shastri with a direct hit and was then obliged to bowl the final over in the match - his first-enabled England to defeat India by seven runs in their rain-hit one-day international at Chandigarh today.
After an overnight storm had delayed the start, England made 121 for six from 15 overs in conditions barely playable in parts and their bowlers, mostly finding the required full length, made India work hard to maintain a rate of eight an over.
Two overs from Mike Gatting, however, cost 29 runs, including 10 wides and India looked like entering the last over needing 11 for victory with Shastri striking the ball so well that a tight finish seemed on the cards.
Admirable accuracy
But for reasons best known to himself, Shastri wanted a second run for a stroke to deep mid-wicket from the last ball of the penultimate over-which would have lost him the strike-and when Yashpal Sharma sent him back he turned to see Cowdrey's speculative return to Edmonds, the bowler, from deep mid-wicket clip the stumps while he was out of his ground.
That done, Cowdrey found himself pressed into action as a bowler for the first time, which was curious since Gatting's first over had cost 16 runs.
And in the gathering gloom of a Punjab evening his instant and admirable accuracy spared England possible further embarrassment.
Locating a good line around off stump, he bowled Yashpal, the other established batsman with his third ball and permitted no liberties by the two new ones, Gavaskar and Rajput.
With Shastri's 53 still earning him the Man of the Match award, all ended satisfactory, not only for England after Gatting and Lamb had played well, but for a crowd of some 25,000.
Some paid as much as £20 for a seat, and had waited patiently for more than five hours for their first glimpse of a game of this status.
Tip-and-run
A game of this tip-and-run nature was obviously of little use to either side with the fifth Test looming, but in India only one day is set aside for these matches (not two as in England) and there were no contingency plans for trying to stage it in full a day later.
This was a pity for a pleasant ground, with the foothills of the Himalayas as a backdrop, deserved something better, not least because, with a judicious arrangement of white fencing, it is probably the only cricket arena in the world where spectators do not walk behind the bowler's arm.
After England had been put in, Fowler was run out, backing up, by Prabhakar's splendid fielding, but Gatting found the room to cut and force off his legs while Gower struck a magnificent six over long off off Sekhar.
He was bowled, making room, but Lamb stepped up the tempo with two effortless sixes off Shastri and remained unbeaten. His injured knee had made a remarkable recovery after the alarms of last week, but he would not have been permitted to play had there been the slightest risk.
His efforts ensured that India would be under pressure, provided England bowled well. There was also a considerable early bonus when Srikkanth, backing up over-enthusiastically, found himself stranded and run out by Gatting's direct hit.
Agnew's catch
Kapil appeared next. This is his home town where he is the proud owner of the Hotel Kapil, but Marks was kept out of the firing line, and as soon as Edmonds appeared, he swept his first ball and was well caught by Agnew at deep square leg.
Foster and Ellison helped to push India behind the rate but when Gatting appeared his first over contained two wides, each of which went for four. With Cowdrey available, it was a surprise that Gatting was called on again three over alter, when he produced two more wides and il runs off the bat, including two boundaries.
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