Hadlee, Bracewell and team spirit: John Wright on Bombay 1988

NEW DELHI: New Zealand have only won two Tests in India, dating back to their first tour here in 1955-56. The first came on the 1969-70 visit when, inspired by Hedley Howarth’s nine wickets, they won by 167 runs in Nagpur. The second, and last, came at the Wankhede Stadium in November 1988 in what remains one of New Zealand’s most memorable victories in Asia.
TOI Sports caught up with New Zealand’s captain on that tour, John Wright, for his recollections of the second Test.
In the first Test in Bangalore, New Zealand were beaten by an innings and 172 runs. In both innings, they were bowled out for under 200.
"We had a tough first Test. We played on a wicket that turned a bit, lost the toss and and fielded and a lot of us got ill on the rest day, which was Sunday. That was when two of our commentators had to field! Then we went to Goa and played another first-class game. That was the beauty of those times - we had three first-class matches and a Test going into the second Test in Bombay. We weren't fancied, I don't think anyone really gave us a chance after Bangalore."
Wright won the toss and chose to bat, but things didn’t go too promisingly.
"That’s what you hoped to do back then — win the toss and immediately bat. We didn't have a great start, we lost wickets early [Wright was third out with the score at 67]. I just scratched around, ticked it here and there. There was a bit of turn early on, they were bowling well. I enjoyed batting in India, but never felt I had the skills that other players had against spin. I think at lunch we were in some trouble.
“Here’s a true story. When I got out in the first innings for 30-odd [33] I came back to the changing rooms, and I think I had just become one of a few New Zealanders to cross 3,000 runs in Tests. I sat down with our coach Bob Cunis, and he asked me after I’d sort of settled down, completely out of the blue: ‘How do you fancy Christmas in Rarotonga?’ And I said ‘what are you talking about?’
Kunis’ reply was: ‘If we lose this Test match, you and I aren’t going back to New Zealand!’
That’s where the name of my autobiography came from. And that is cricket in a nutshell. You’re down and out, but have that spirit.”
Batting at No 9, John Bracewell top-scored with 52 from 100 balls and forged a record ninth-wicket stand of 76 with Danny Morrison, who made 27 not out from 116 deliveries.
“Bracewell had a fantastic match, just brilliant. That partnership down the order gave us plenty of confidence. We were just trying to put together partnerships and those two exemplified our spirit of competitiveness. You take inspiration from performances like that, more so in sticky situations. Watching from the changing room was inspirational.”
Richard Hadlee. Photo Credit: Getty Images
New Zealand made 236 and thanks largely to Richard Hadlee’s 6/49, bowled out India for 234.
“The thing with the Richard was you had to give him the new ball because that gave him the best opportunity. He was so classy, he’d get a wicket or two up front. He did it in India’s first innings, but the real damage was later when the ball was older. He really sliced through the lower order, and mind you they had some batsmen who went deep.
I had to get Richard off and give him a rest. It was hot in Bombay and so I had to bowl him in short spells. He would generally bowl four overs, then three, and then we’d try and put him on before a break. If we were going into tea, we wanted Richard to bowl three overs before that. We then wanted him to start after a break. If you’re looking at the game, you’re obviously looking at him putting pressure on with the new ball, then in another short spell and then breakthroughs before and after a break in play.
With Richard it was also important where you got your slips standing. We worked really hard on that. That later kept me in good stead when I coached India. You have to be aggressive with your slip catching because you want the nicks to carry, and in India the wicketkeeping and close catching is probably the most challenging. And it the most important part of Test cricket. Our slips had to stand a little closer and you take that risk, but on that occasion it worked out well.”
With a two-run lead, New Zealand had claimed a sliver of a psychological advantage. After another early wicket, Wright (36) and Andrew Jones (78) added 71. After another wobble, Ian Smith (54) and Bracewell put on 69 for the ninth wicket and then Bracewell added 29 for the tenth with Ewen Chatfield. New Zealand made 279, setting India a target of 282.
“If Danny and Bracers hadn’t got those runs down the order in the first innings, and Smithy and Bracers in the second, we were sunk. Smithy was really impressive, and that was a very crucial innings. With Bracers, I think by then he’d found confidence with that first-innings fifty and two big wickets [Dilip Vengsarkar and Mohammad Azharuddin]. We stretched the total close to 300, which left India a big target.
“But they had a very strong side: Dilip was captain and batted at No 4, Kris Srikanth and Arun Lal were the openers, [Navjot] Sidhu at three, then Azharuddin and [Ravi] Shastri] and Kapil Dev. Kiran More after that, he could hold a bat. We had fought the whole game and batting last in India is tough, the pressure is one the side chasing.”
First ball of India’s chase, Srikkanth was trapped lbw to Hadlee.
“That was Richard. Bang. New ball, swing. Getting Srikkanth was huge because he was the kind of guy that could change things very quickly.
In those days I don’t think we bowled our overs particularly quickly. We probably played 20 minute after stumps. We’d be fined for slow over-rates today! Richard bowled real quick that evening, which gave us lift. All of us who played with him thank our lucky stars. Sunny Gavaskar put it best when he said that Hadlee put it in the corridor of uncertainty, and in India in particular your lines and lengths are so important. Richard attacked the stumps, moved the ball just a hint. He came back and got Arun Lal [for 47] and that changed the innings, because Azharuddin went soon after. That was Richard.
In between Hadlee’s two strikes, Bracewell bowled Sidhu and Vengsarkar. Then he added Azharuddin (21) and Kapil (36 off 37 balls) to leave India 137/7 at stumps.
John Bracewell. Photo Credit: Getty Images
“Getting runs in both innings gave him a lot of confidence, particularly in the first innings. That’s amazing, how as an allrounder that rubs off on your game. Wickets in Bombay, when they start to turn they turn quick. Bracewell had started to turn the ball and he had his tail up. That wicket suited John. He was a big turner of the ball, he delivered the ball from high up and could make it bite.
“With the confidence of bowling well earlier, and being an aggressive bowler, he blossomed. He had catchers around the bat and bowled beautifully. Being an offspinner in India against that qualify batting line-up was a great challenge but he did wonderfully.
“I think we started bowling soon after lunch on Sunday and by the end of the day, India were seven down. We got Kapil Dev out shortly before stumps. That was huge, and it was Bracewell who did it.
“What also stands out for me was the great sportsmanship on both sides. I can still remember going up in the lift in the Taj Hotel, meeting Kiran More and one of his team-mates. There must have been three or four of us Kiwis, and Kiran looked at us, smiled and said “Well played, you’ve done really well today”. That was something I have never forgotten.
“We celebrated well that evening, because we had a rest day on Monday. We had a fantastic team gathering that Sunday night. We were sponsored by one of the New Zealand breweries who’d left a little bit of product with us, so we tried to get rid of as much of it as we could, as we had Sunday off and three more wickets to take on Tuesday.”
New Zealand duly claimed them for the addition of just eight runs. India were all out for 145, with Bracewell finishing with 6/51 and Hadlee 4/39. Bracewell was Man of the Match. Wright had become the second New Zealand captain to win a Test in India.
“I suppose we surprised India. It was a terrific game of cricket. It see-sawed and could have gone India’s way. They were well on top at lunch on the first day but then we fought back. We had a good fighting spirit. We always got stuck in. We weren’t one of the big teams coming to India. It was a great match. We took our catches. We enjoyed ourselves, we tried our best. At certain stages of that match we liked like losing but in the field I thought we were really good. As a captain, I took satisfaction from our fighting team performance in Bombay.”