1st July, 2000 is remembered for a thrilling test match at Lord’s. It was one of the finest moments for Dominic Cork. West Indies already took a 1-0 lead in the series and took the early initiative in this one after taking a 133 runs lead in the first innings.
Batting first West Indies scored 267 thanks to 82 from Sherwin Campbell and 59 from Wavell Hinds. Darren Gough and Cork picked up 4 wickets each for 72 and 39 runs respectively. England started with a collapse and were 3 for 9 and then 5 for 50 before recovering slightly to put up 134. Graeme Hick (25), Alec Stewart (28) and Craig White (27) made the key contributions. In this case, 8 wickets were shared equally by Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.
Conceding the huge lead, the English bowlers came back all guns blazing. Andrew Caddick got two wickets in his second over and soon West Indies were 10/3. They kept losing wickets and at 39/8, looked like would break the record of lowest team total at Lord’s. But Reon King’s seven runs took them to 54. Caddick finished with 5/16, Cork 3/13 and Gough 2/17. England did not require any other bowler.
Requiring 188 runs for a famous win, England motored to 95/1 with Michael Atherton and Michael Vaughan both looking solid. Even after a few quick wickets, they were on140/4. Suddenly Walsh got Stewart and White in the same over, Nick Knight was caught behind off Franklyn Rose and when Ambrose got Caddick for seven, England were 160/8, requiring another 28 runs.
Cork and Gough played a memorable partnership. For 45 minutes the duo batted together. Cork got most of the strike and was the primary scorer. In between, he even hit Rose for a six. Gough took four singles on the other end and there was lots of tension but finally, Cork hit the winnings boundary, his 4th and jumped in joy. A jubilant England celebrated under the Sun at Lord’s and Cork’s all-round show was celebrated.
