Emerald Headingley had the honour of staging India’s first-ever ODI, that match being played in 1974. It was, obviously, the first ODI between these two countries, only Headingley’s second and the 11th world-wide. These two sides have met on a further five occasions on Yorkshire’s home ground, most recently in 2014 but Paul Dyson looks back at another match 22 years ago. The photo of Darren Gough comes courtesy of Mick Pope.
May 25, 1996 at Headingley: India 158 in 40.2 overs (M Azharuddin 40, PJ Martin 3-34, DG Cork 3-46); England 162-4 in 39.3 overs (GP Thorpe 79*, AJ Stewart 47*. England won by six wickets.
This was the second in a series of three one-day internationals which were played for the Texaco Trophy on India’s tour in the first half of 1996. (Pakistan were the visitors in the second half of the season.) The first game was ruined by the weather and ended as a no result match. England had performed badly in the World Cup in the early part of the year and, in the interests of having a new-look team, gave ODI debuts to three players at The Oval. One of them – Ronnie Irani – was left out in favour of Yorkshire’s Darren Gough for this game.
