When Kevan James dismissed Sachin and Dravid to claim four wickets in four balls

India took on Hampshire in a first-class fixture in Southampton ahead of the final Test in the Leeds.

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Kevan James
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A portrait of Kevan James of Hampshire County Cricket Club at the County Ground in Southampton, England. (Photo Source: Phil Cole /Allsport)

India toured England for ODI and Test series in 1996 after completion of the World Cup in the subcontinent where they were knocked out in the semi-finals. The tour didn’t start on a great note for India as they went down in the 3-match ODI series by a 0-2 margin and lost the first game of the 3-match Test series in Birmingham. The 2nd Test at the Lord’s witnessed Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid scoring well on their respective Test debuts.

India took on Hampshire in a first-class fixture in Southampton ahead of the final Test in the Leeds. Sachin Tendulkar led the team in the absence of the skipper Mohammad Azharuddin. The Indians were put into bat by the hosts after losing the toss. Openers Ajay Jadeja and Vikram Rathour put on a huge stand as India didn’t lose a wicket by the first hour after Lunch. The 192-run partnership finally came to an end when Jadeja was out caught in the bowling of Kevan James after scoring 91 in 145 balls with 15 fours

James dismissed the other opener Rathour too in the 90s as India lost their 2nd wicket on 207. The left-arm medium bowler got Rathour stumped by the keeper Adrian Aymes who was standing up. Tendulkar walked into bat at No.4 and found Jason Laney coming in as a short leg. Laney ended up catching the ball that took the edge of Sachin’s bat and bounced on his pads. Thus, Tendulkar bagged his only golden duck in his first-class career (Excluding Tests).

Kevan James completed a hat-trick after trapping Rahul Dravid in front of his pads on the very next delivery. The left-hander didn’t stop with the hat-trick as Sanjay Manjrekar chased a widish delivery only to edge it to the keeper on the very first delivery he faced. Hampshire couldn’t find a break-through after James bagged four in four as Ganguly scripted an unbeaten 155-run stand for the 6th wicket with Anil Kumble.

Ganguly scored an unbeaten 100 off 141 balls with 16 fours while Kumble remained unbeaten on 59 before Indians declared their innings at 362/5. The hosts were reduced to 45/2 before James caused troubles to Indians with the bat this time. He put on a 175-run partnership for the 3rd wicket with Laney who scored 100. Kevan James went on to score 103 off 167 balls with ten fours and three sixes.

The hosts scored 458/9 that included an unbeaten 81-run stand for the 10th wicket before both the teams decided to settle with a draw. With his century, Kevan James became the first player to score a century and take four in four balls in the same first-class match. Mahmudullah Riyad in 2014 and Kelly Smuts in 2016 recreated this feat in their respective domestic competitions.

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