August 28, 1995 – Nottinghamshire lost the match by an innings after posting 527 in the first innings

Nottinghamshire toured Northampton to face the home team Northamptonshire in the County Championship game that began on 24th August at the County Ground. Everything seemed to be going right for the Nottingham team as their captain Robert Robinson laid the platform and looked set to play a big knock after electing to bat first. He shared a 68-run opening stand with Paul Pollard (30) who got out to Anil Kumble in the opening session of the game.

Pollard’s wicket turned out to be the only success for the home team on the opening day with the ball as Robinson struck an unbeaten double century while his partner Graeme Archer was not out on 93 at the stumps. The pair was undefeated on the first day where they added 285 for the 2nd wicket as Nottingham ended the day on 353/1. Things started to change for the hosts on the next day as Kevin Curran trapped Robinson on 209 that came with the help of 29 fours and a six.

Runs, runs and more runs:

The wicket gave the opening Northampton needed who had Kumble and Curran taking four and three wickets respectively to bundle out the opposition to 527. Archer finished with 158 batting with the lower-order to take the total past 500. The Northants replied strongly as they posted 149 runs on the 2nd day without losing a wicket. The third day turned out to be a nightmare as the hosts kept piling runs at a quick-pace and Nottingham’s total looked small.

Alan Fordham scored 130 to share a 188-run opening stand with Richard Montgomerie (68) which was followed by centuries from Alan Lamb (115) and Russell Warren (154). In what appeared to be ideal batting conditions, skipper Lamb added 167 for the 4th wicket while keeper Warren was part of a 155-run partnership for the 5th wicket with Kevin Curran (70) to earn his team the lead. Northamptonshire scored a total of 560 runs on the 3rd day finishing on 709/7.

It was the first time that the Northants team crossed the 700-run mark in first-class cricket as their previous best total was 636/3 against Essex in 1990. David Chapel raced to a 92-ball 114* on the final day morning resuming from rest day with the home team scoring 72 runs in only nine overs. Lamb declared the innings at 781/7 with a lead of 254 runs. The Notts, who were cruising at 353/1 two days ago and needed to bat more than five hours to avoid an innings defeat.

The Anil Kumble factor:

Curran cleaned up Paul Pollard early on but the visiting side lost only one wicket before Lunch. However, Nottingham, from 72/1 were soon reduced to 90/7 that included three wickets on 72 in a space of eight deliveries. By then, Curran and Kumble had three wickets apiece to their name playing a crucial role in the devastation. Amidst the harakiri keeper Wayne Noon and Robert Pick did try their best to delay the inevitable.

The pair added 43 runs for the 8th wicket but more importantly, batted for 59 minutes before Kumble got the better of Pick. Northants were in the race against time as Wayne Noon batted another hour this time with Robert Chapman. The No.10 batsman scored five runs but more importantly batted 63 balls before getting out to Johnathan Taylor. Noon’s efforts brought down the game to the final three overs when his team was still 97 runs away from avoiding an innings defeat.

Kumble ran in from the Pavilion End to bowl his 40th over including 36 consecutive overs unchanged from the same end. He had John Afford trapped in front on the very first ball of the over to seal a victory for the hosts with just 17 balls to spare. Kumble finished the 2nd innings with the bowling figures of 39.1-21-43-5. With the innings and 97-run defeat in this game, Nottinghamshire became the first and only team till date to lose by an innings after posting a 500+ total in their first innings of an FC game.

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