Strang made pawn in dubious game

In the whole spectrum of sport, there is perhaps nothing quite like the excitement and tension that is generated when a Test match, after five days of fluctuating endeavour, comes down to the last session, the last hour, the last over and, finally, the last ball.

This was an extraordinary final day in keeping with all that had gone before in this remarkable first Test match between England and Zimbabwe. The final innings produced fine batting which was almost decisive from Nick Knight and Alec Stewart against the most negative tactics by Zimbabwe.

It was as unedifying a spectacle as one could wish to see. The batsmen were forced to step a yard or more away to leg to try to work the ball into the untenanted off-side. There were six men on the leg side and so it was not likely to be so profitable hitting the ball on that side.

In limited-over cricket, almost every ball would have been a wide and the tactics therefore impossible. In the end they were successful but only after they had effectively neutralised Zimbabwe's main weapon, the leg-spinner Paul Strang. The batsmen were able to pick up singles wherever they wanted, and occasionally Strang was forced to bowl with all three of his off-side fielders back on the boundary.

In order to put the batsman under pressure, Strang needed at least a slip and a number of fielders up to save the single. That would maintain the pressure and prevent him escaping to the other end. This was the only way he would have taken wickets.

The batsmen could not read Strang and if they had been forced to slog they would surely have got themselves out. Strang had already shown that he is an accurate bowler and he should have been given an orthodox field. Instead of which, he unwittingly became a pawn in a dubious plot.

By deciding on these tactics Alistair Campbell, the Zimbabwe captain, waved away the outside chance his side had of winning.

What probably happened was that the Zimbaweans were suddenly scared when England raced to 36 off five overs before tea and they decided the best hope of getting away with it was to try to suffocate the batsmen.

It so nearly did not work because of some fine batting by Knight and Stewart. Knight began as if he was intending to win the match in a dozen overs but Stewart steadied him down and showed him how the innings should be paced and that it was no greater virtue to win in, say, the 20th rather than the 37th over.

But Stewart got out and the middle order collapsed, leaving Knight marooned and ultimately despondent after an astonishingly exciting finish.

CLOSEST TEST FINISHES

1960-61 Australia tied with West Indies at Brisbane.

1986-87 India tied with Australia at Madras.

1996-97 England, with four wickets remaining, drew with Zimbabwe at Bulawayo with both teams on same score at the end of the final day.

1902 England beat Australia by one wicket at The Oval.

1905-06 South Africa beat England by one wicket at Johannesburg

1907-08 England beat Australia by one wicket at Melbourne.

1922-23 England beat South Africa by one wicket at Cape Town.

1951-52 Australia beat West Indies by one wicket at Melbourne.

1979-80 New Zealand beat West Indies by one wicket at Dunedin.

1994-95 Pakistan beat Australia by one wicket at Karachi.

1992-93 West Indies beat Australia by one run at Adelaide.

1902 Australia beat England by three runs at Old Trafford.

1982-83 England beat Australia by three runs at Melbourne.

1993-94 South Africa beat Australia by five runs at Sydney.