Chasing, England’s 321, the hosts needed a massive 16-run last over to win the tie. Set batsman Kedar Jadhav though gave his side high hopes by carving a six and a four over cover of the first two deliveries. With 6 needed off four balls, the unthinkable happened.

Chris Woakes who was at the receiving end till then bowled two back to back dot deliveries and the equation changed dramatically.

It got worse for the home side as Jadhav miscued one and was holed out in the deep in the penultimate delivery. It was too much to ask of Bhuvneshwar Kumar to strike a blow into the stands of the last ball and eventually England pocketed the game with 5 runs to spare.

They lost the series 2-1 but salvaged some lost pride by winning the thriller at Eden. In this piece, we look at five other close encounters that India have lost in ODIs.

#5 17 August 1997: India lose by 2 runs to Sri Lanka at Colombo

Now this one was a pure heartbreak for the Indians. Asked to bat first in the first game of the ODI series Sri Lanka got off to a flyer as openers Jayasuriya and Atapattu put on a 91 opening stand.

After Jayasuriya’s departure, Atapattu got to his century with support from Roshan Mahanama who himself bagged a fifty. Later the likes of Aravinda De Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga, helped the Lankans get a massive 302 on the board.

India struggled from the very beginning in their run-chase and were at one stage tottering at 64/4. Middle order talismans Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja then resurrected the innings by scoring twin hundreds.

They together build a massive 223-run partnership. However, it wasn’t enough to see India home as they lost by just 2 runs.

#4 9 October 1987: India lose by 1 run to Australia at Chennai

It was the third match of Group A in the 1987 World Cup, where Australia locked horns with India. Having won the toss, India decided to bowl but could not restrict Australia from getting to 270.

Geoff Marsh was brilliant for the Aussies scoring 110 of 141 balls and David Boon contributed with a healthy 49.

In reply, India were driven by twin seventies from Kris Srikkanth and Navjot Singh Sidhu but once they were gone, the middle order crumbled under pressure.

India lost their next 7 wickets by a margin of 62 runs courtesy of some brilliant bowling by Craig McDermott who picked up 4/56 and eventually India lost by just 1 run.

#3 1 March 1992: India lose by 1 run to Australia at Brisbane

Another World Cup, another narrow loss for the Indian team. This time too, it was against Australia. After winning the toss, Australia batted first on a skiddy Gabba surface and could manage to put up only 237 on the scoreboard.

Had it not been for Dean Jones’ prolific 90 of 108 balls they would have scored much less.

While batting Mohammad Azharuddin matched Jones’ innings by scoring a fine 93 but the others around him failed to live up to the occasion. It was also a rain-curtailed tie as the revised target given to India was 236 from 47 overs.

The other major contribution for the Indians came from the bat of Sanjay Manjrekar who scored 47. India needed 13 off the final over but fell short by just a run.

#2 20 May 2006: India lose by 1 run to West Indies at Kingston

This was the second game of the five-match ODI series and West Indies went into it with a game down. India chose to field and the pacers made good use of the conditions to wreck the West Indies top order.

Ramnaresh Sarwan waged a lone war scoring an unbeaten 98 as wickets kept tumbling around him. They ended up with 198 on the board after 50 overs as the Indian pacers, Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar picked up a total of 5 wickets.

However, the same fate befell India while they were chasing. They lost both their openers early and pressure got to the middle order. Yuvraj Singh with his 93 almost took India past the West Indies total but was cleaned up by Bravo off the fourth delivery of the last over.

India lost by just a single run.

#1 18 April 1986: India lose to Pakistan by 1 wicket in Sharjah

It was the final of the Asia Cup and the two heavyweights locked horns at the famous Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium. Pakistan sent India to bat and they were off on a canter. Both openers, Kris Srikkanth (75) and Sunil Gavaskar (92) scored big fifties to give the initial momentum to the innings.

Dilip Vengsarkar to got to a half century after that but India could not finish with a flourish which was required.

They needed to defend 245 runs and almost had Pakistan on the mat with them struggling at 61/3. But then Javed Miandad came up with a herculean effort, scored a century and took the game to the last over.

Pakistan needed four runs off the final ball and in one of the most dramatic finishes in cricketing history, Miandad smashed Chetan Sharma into the stands to snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat.

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