AHMEDABAD, India: Pakistan Captain Imran Khan took his team off the field when they were pelted with missiles by spectators who caused a hold up for almost an hour in the fourth cricket test against India.
The trouble started shortly before tea when Dilip Vengsarkar completed a century and spectators ran into the pitch to congratulate him. At the same time, other =spectators threw stones and bottles at the Pakistani fielders.
Imran called a halt and led his men off the field, so that 50 minutes of play were lost on the fourth day of a match that a seems to be heading for a draw despite a slump that brought India’s first innings to a swift end.
India, 165 for three overnight, subsided from 290 for six to 323 all out. Pakistan, leading by 72, was 25 without loss in their second innings at the close.
Although police did| not intervene during the crowd trouble for fear of making the situation worse, cricket officials here said Ahmeda bad must now be in doubt as a venue for world cup matches later this year.
Crowd numbered around 25.000 but a full house of 60,000 might pose insuperable problems of control, they added.
When play in the final session, left arm pace man Wasim Akram wrapped up India’s innings by capturing the last four wickets in 13 deliveries.
Akram, who had toiled without reward through 17 overs, started the slide by dismissing Vengsarkar for 109 and ending a seventh wicket stand of 60 with Captain Kapil Dev.
The Pace man then sent back Shivial Yadav, Gopal Sharma and Maninder Singh, all of whom failed to score, leaving Kapil unbeaten on exactly 50. Akram finished with four for 60.
In the remaining period, Pakistan scored a leisurely 25 without loss in 14 overs, which left the prospect of another deadlock to follow the draws in the first three tests of the five match series. The test has ended in a draw.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 13, 1987
