Best match reversals and comebacks

[TheNightWatchman]

After the Fakhar comeback there was a piece written on cricinfo on greatest Pakistan comebacks.
So I thought of starting a thread where you guys talk about your favorite comebacks in cricket. It doesn't necessarily have to be a win. It could be a comeback which made a one sided match turn into an extremely tense or competitive one.
Have had a few favorites. Razzaq vs Sri Lanka in 99 with the ball when Sri Lanka were 172-2 chasing 197 and Pakistan managed to tie the match. I unfortunately was too young to understand cricket at the time. I watched Razzaq vs SA in 2010 where he singlehandedly chased down a target in one of the best Pakistan innings I've seen. Seen Afridi singlehandedly win a match with ball and bat vs srilanka too atleast twice I think.

However one of my favorites will always be Mohammad amir and Saeed Ajmals last wicket stand vs NZ. I was 13 at the time and watching 17 year old Amir whacking 2 of the top 10 ODI bowlers in the world(bond and vettori) at that time for boundaries was amazing. Vettori was biting his hat in frustration. Ajmal looked like a guy whos never held a bat in his life and just edging deliveries for 4s. 17 year old bluechipper Amir grinning like he has no idea he could bat that good. The whole situation was just really entertaining to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BslnbksxtxU

What are your favourite comebacks in a match. Doesn't need to be from Pakistan cricket team.

 

[Ahmed216]

Chennai test 1999. India required only 17 with 4 wickets in hand. Sachin on song and the momentum well n truly with India. Saqlain induced a false shot from sachin and when wasim took the catch u could see the belief in Pak team that they will now wrap this up and they did. I was only 10 and thrilled. I still remember the aggression and confidence in akram's body language. That was the first time i realised as a kid why this champion was so highly rated.

 

[TheNightWatchman]

Chennai test 1999. India required only 17 with 4 wickets in hand. Sachin on song and the momentum well n truly with India. Saqlain induced a false shot from sachin and when wasim took the catch u could see the belief in Pak team that they will now wrap this up and they did. I was only 10 and thrilled. I still remember the aggression and confidence in akram's body language. That was the first time i realised as a kid why this champion was so highly rated.

Wasim and Waqar vs the tail. how many times have teams been blasted away once they got the reverse swing against the lower 5-6 batsmen.
There was this match, Waqar in his prime in 94 where NZ were 142-4 chasing 161 and that reverse swing just blew them away and the match was tied. Ends up with 6 wickets

 

[TheNightWatchman]

Mike Hussey vs Pakistan T20 SF 2010 is up there vs 2 of the best T20 bowlers around at the time, Amir and Ajmal

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

2001 Kolkata test against Australia for me.

 

[TheNightWatchman]

2001 Kolkata test against Australia for me.

Definitely. Probably the best test comeback of all time I think?

 

[TheNightWatchman]

Australia vs Pakistan Sydney was a pretty good comeback too

 

[TheNightWatchman]

Australia vs South Africa 434/438 runs. I can't imagine what the southafricans were thinking in the dressing room after the first innings and then...out goes Gibbs

 

[PakistanMeriJaan]

Abdul razzaq vs South Africa 31/10/2010

 

[Sunzi]

Stokes v Australia / Ashes

 

[Sunzi]

BC Lara chasing down 311 v Aus

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Australia vs Pakistan Sydney was a pretty good comeback too

Less of a comeback, more of a Pakistan slitting their wrists

 

[Rafa]

Bangaldesh New Zealand match from 2017 CT.

 

[Mamoon]

Pakistan going from 165-4 to 182 all out while chasing 183 vs South Africa in Sharjah in 2013 was one of the funniest and ugliest batting-collapses I have ever seen.

19 runs required, 6 wickets in hand, 10 overs to go - somehow, Pakistan found a way to bottle it in the most Pakistani fashion.

The South African players were almost rolling on the floor in tears. It truly encapsulated the unparalleled mediocrity of Pakistan cricket.

Probably the darkest hour of Misbah’s captaincy in ODIs, and there have been many.

 

[Gullycricket]

From the top of my head Asia cup 2014. What a finish by Lala. The match seemed gone and only he could hit those blows. Loved Kohli's rondhu face and that day I understood that bufoon can never be a great captain like Dhoni.
Another one is we losing against Australia in 2013 with Maxwell bowling last over. We were on course for a win but don't know what happened

 

[Markhor]

BC Lara chasing down 311 v Aus

That was astounding. WI were 98-6 in response to AUS's 490 in the 1st inns.

To then chase 300+ against that AUS attack made it even more special.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

Second Test, at Eden Gardens in 2000–01 Border–Gavaskar Trophy.

It had happened only three times in the history of Test cricket.

 

[Major]

Pakistan going from 165-4 to 182 all out while chasing 183 vs South Africa in Sharjah in 2013 was one of the funniest and ugliest batting-collapses I have ever seen.

19 runs required, 6 wickets in hand, 10 overs to go - somehow, Pakistan found a way to bottle it in the most Pakistani fashion.

The South African players were almost rolling on the floor in tears. It truly encapsulated the unparalleled mediocrity of Pakistan cricket.

Probably the darkest hour of Misbah’s captaincy in ODIs, and there have been many.

Misbah almost resigned from captaincy after that. Najem sethi had to call him up on his show

 

[MRSN]

Mike Hussey vs Pakistan T20 SF 2010 is up there vs 2 of the best T20 bowlers around at the time, Amir and Ajmal

Man, why did you have to bring this up?

That was one of the most sad days I have felt as a Pak fan. That T20 side was really really good especially our bowling and in SF our batting clicked against Aus's strong bowling attack which was dominating mosts sides and was their strength. Those hits by Hussey in the last 3 overs will always be part of my core memory.

 

[TheNightWatchman]

Man, why did you have to bring this up?

That was one of the most sad days I have felt as a Pak fan. That T20 side was really really good especially our bowling and in SF our batting clicked against Aus's strong bowling attack which was dominating mosts sides and was their strength. Those hits by Hussey in the last 3 overs will always be part of my core memory.

I was absolutely convinced we were winning this. 20 odd needed off the last over I think and Ajmal bowling. I was going to go to sleep and decided I'll just watch the final over just to see the celebrations once we get through to the finals. The final over instead gave me PTSD

 

[Wiji]

This one was a near-comeback engineered by Razzaq who was on an explosive streak against New Zealand during that period. Had Shoaib Akhtar not been napping at the end with a comical runout, the game would've been Pakistan's. I know we've had many such innings after that, but at the time people like Stephen Fleming felt it was the greatest innings he'd ever seen. Pakistan ended up losing by 3 runs I think. If he had finished it, it would've been right up there with the all-time great ODI innings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5i5_91gRK0