Four sixes, twenty-four needed

England made 653 for four declared at Lord’s in July 1990, Graham Gooch 333. India were 430 for nine in reply, 24 short of saving the follow-on, with Narendra Hirwani at one end and Kapil Dev at the other. The card’s note on the innings reads: India avoided the follow-on when Kapil Dev hit four consecutive sixes off Hemmings, having played the first two balls of the over defensively.

Six hundred and fifty-three

India won the toss and put England in. Gooch batted 628 minutes and 485 balls for 333, with 43 fours and three sixes, and was bowled by Manoj Prabhakar at 641. Allan Lamb made 139 and put on 308 with him, Robin Smith 100 not out. England were 359 for two at the close of the first day and declared on the second, and the card notes the total as their highest against India.

Full scorecard: England v India, 1st Test, Lord’s, 26–31 July 1990 →

Four hundred and fifty-four

Ravi Shastri made 100 and Mohammad Azharuddin 121 from 111 balls, with 22 fours. India were 376 for six at the end of the third day, Kapil 14 not out, and after the rest day Azharuddin went at 393, Kiran More at 430, and Sanjeev Sharma at 430, two balls later. The follow-on mark was 454. Hirwani came in, and Kapil was on strike to Hemmings.

The over

Two balls defended. Then six, six, six, six. Twenty-four runs, the exact number needed, and the total moved from 430 to 454. Hirwani was leg before to Angus Fraser without scoring, having faced two balls in the innings, and India were all out for 454, which was the follow-on mark to the run.

Kapil finished 77 not out from 75 balls, with eight fours and the four sixes. Hemmings’ figures for the innings were 20 overs, three maidens, 109 runs, two wickets. Fraser took five for 104 in 39.1 overs, the last of them Hirwani’s.

The card keeps the sequence in its fall of wickets: 8-430, 9-430, 10-454. Between the ninth and the tenth is the over, and nothing else. The umpires who counted it were Dickie Bird and Nigel Plews.

What the over did not change

England batted again and Gooch made 123 from 113 balls, with four sixes of his own, and 204 with Mike Atherton for the first wicket. They declared at 272 for four and set 472. India made 224, Sharma top-scoring with 38 from number ten, and lost by 247 runs on the fifth afternoon.

The four sixes saved a follow-on. They did not save the match, and it is possible they cost nothing either way: a side following on 200 behind on that pitch might have batted longer than a side set 472. The card does not decide that. It notes the over, and then it notes the result.

What the card notes

Gooch’s 333 as the sixth-highest Test score at the time. His aggregate of 456 as the highest in a Test. The Gooch and Lamb partnership as the highest by England against India, and the Gooch and Atherton one likewise for the first wicket. And the four sixes, in one sentence, with the two defensive balls before them, which is the detail that turns a big hit into a decision.

What the card holds

A 333 and a 123 by the same batter, with a wicket in between. A side that put the opposition in and watched them make 653. A follow-on saved by exactly 24 runs in exactly four balls. A number ten with the top score in the last innings. And a margin of 247, which is what the over turned out to be worth.

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No. 8 in The Over That Turned It, a series of 9.

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