Nidahas Trophy was first held in 1998 where Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly struck a record partnership in the finals. (Source: Youtube)
Nidahas Trophy 2018 is being held to celebrate Sri Lanka’s 70th year of independence and will feature 3 subcontinental teams in the upcoming edition- hosts Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. However, fans of the 90’s will recall that Nidahas Trophy was first held in 1998 to commemorate Sri Lanka’s 50 years of Independence and also 50 years of the existence of the Board of Control for cricket in Sri Lanka. Back then the series was played between hosts- Sri Lanka, India and New Zealand. As many as 9 qualifying matches were played before India and Sri Lanka made it to the finals, where the men in blue emerged victors in a thrilling encounter.
The then day-night final of the Singer-Akai Nidahas Trophy took place at Colombo on July 7, 1998. The nail-biting contest began on a good note for India as skipper Mohammed Azharuddin won the toss and elected to bat first. His decision proved a wise one as openers Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly stitched a record 252 run-stand to give India an enormous advantage. It was the highest opening run-stand back then.
While Tendulkar slammed his 17th ODI ton and scored 128 from 131 balls (two sixes and eight fours), Ganguly scored a fine 109 from 136 balls which included two sixes and six fours. The Lankan bowling attack comprising of Wickramasinghe, Bandaratilleke, Dharmasena, Muralitharan were taken to the cleaners as Ganguly and Tendulkar cut, drove and pulled with panache to guide India to a formidable total of 307/6 in 50 overs.
Aravinda De Silva led Sri Lanka’s reply with a fine hundred. Battling a groin strain (and taking a runner), he scored 105 in just 94 deliveries which kept the Lankan’s in the hunt throughout the game. However, he failed to receive enough support from the other end as the Indian’s kept chipping away wickets at regular intervals. Ajit Agarkar was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/53 in 10 overs. 8 runs were required off the last over (with one wicket in hand) as Anil Kumble successfully defended the total and India went on to win the match by six runs.
For his brilliant performance with the bat, Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the Man of the Match. Sri Lanka’s Aravinda de Silva was named the Player of the Series.
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