What was unusual about the ODI between New Zealand and West Indies at Georgetown in 1996? (25 July 2001)

The fourth ODI of a five match series between West Indies and New Zealand at the Bourda in Georgetown in April 1996 was a tense affair. Down 1-2, New Zealand desperately needed a win to keep their chances alive. Lee Germon began by losing the toss and New Zealand were inserted by Courtney Walsh whose move appeared to have backfired with Kiwi openers Craig Spearman and Nathan Astle smacking the ball around the park. The stand mounted to 55 before Curtly Ambrose trapped Astle leg before and New Zealand proceeded to collapse like a house of cards. Ten wickets fell for 103 and the visitors downed shutters in the 36th over with a modest 158 to their credit.

West Indies had to bat out 10 overs before adjourning for lunch at which point they were struggling at 39-3 with Stu Willaims, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Brian Lara all having no further part to play in the game. After the break, the wickets continued to tumble and at 120/8 it looked curtains for the Windies. But Roland Holder found a tenacious partner in Ambrose and the pair ferried the score to 152 when the Antiguan beanpole departed. Walsh followed suit off the first ball of the 50th over to hand New Zealand a narrow four run victory.

Ah yes, didn't we say there was something unusual about the match? Well, the 'unusual' part actually came after the match was over when the adjudicator hunted around for a suitable Man of the Match. As usual the Kiwis had stretched the concept of teamwork to an extreme in closing out the game, with six bowlers sharing the wickets. The frontrunners were Chris Cairns (29 and 2/17 in 5.1 overs), Gavin 'the postman' Larsen (2/18 in 10 overs, including the key wicket of Lara) and Chris Harris (1/23 in 10 overs, two catches and a run out). But rather than agonising between them, the adjudicator handed the MoM prize to the entire New Zealand team!

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