World Cup Highlights: Warne triggers stunning Windies collapse in 1996

There were two remarkable collapses when Australia met West Indies in the 1996 World Cup semifinal in Mohali, but only one of them earned a permanent place in the tournament’s folklore. The first one was when Curtly Ambrose and Ian Bishop ripped through the Aussie top order. Mark Waugh, Mark Taylor, Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh were dismissed for a collective four runs. The one we remember, however, is Roger Harper, Ottis Gibson, Jimmy Adams, Keith Arthurton, Ian Bishop, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh managing to score a meagre 10 runs between them. Winners get to write history. [caption id=“attachment_2091715” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Shane Warne. Getty Images[/caption] No one can quite fathom how West Indies went 165 for 2 from 42 overs to 202 all out in 49.3 overs while chasing a modest target of 208. The collapse was triggered by Glenn McGrath removing a well-settled Shivnarine Chanderpaul (80 from 126 balls), gathered pace through Shane Warne’s spinning genius (4/36 from nine overs) and ended with Damien Fleming bowling Courtney Walsh. Warne’s spell was the difference. He which removed Gibson, Adams and Bishop from the equation. The leg-spinner had already taken a wicket when he caught Courtney Browne in the 7th over. But the telling spell came 37 overs later when Warne came back to hammer the final nails in West Indies’ coffin. Nerves did not seem to kick in for the Windies until Harper’s wicket though. Once he was out caught & bowled by McGrath, the domino effect had started. And the wily Warne capitalised on the anxiety. First to fall was Gibson — who was simple taken aback by the pace and bounce of the ball, getting caught behind. Thirteen balls later, Adams was LBW trying to flick a fuller delivery. Ten balls later Warne unleashed the googly to dismiss Bishop LBW. It was spell which demonstrated the complete array of Warne’s skills. The googly, the flipper, the faster one, the arm-ball — Warne completely bamboozled his prey before devouring them ruthlessly. The West Indies aided their own collapse After Chanderpaul’s wicket, the Windies management decided to go for the quick finish rather than a calculated one. Roger Harper came in ahead of Keith Arthurton and Jimmy Adams and was LBW in only his fifth delivery. Then Ottis Gibson was sent in. According to Ian Bishop, the reshuffle unsettled the dressing room: “I think it [the panic] came from my side when the batting order was changed. I can only speak for myself. I know my ability with the bat. All I had to do was play it a little straighter and work it around. As soon as it got down to a few wickets left, we started realising we were messing this up.”