On this day in 1993: Shane Warne bowled 'ball of the century'
Jun 04, 2020
New Delhi [India], June 4 : It was on June 4, 1993 when former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne bowled 'the ball of the century'.
He did this in the first Test of the Ashes series against England at Manchester.
The particular ball by the then 23-year-old Warne took the breath of all cricket fans away.
The ball landed wide of leg, but spun so much that it knocked over the off-stump of England's batsman Mike Gatting.
Gatting stood at the crease in disbelief and it took him a couple of minutes to process what had actually happened to him.
The official handle of the International Cricket Council (ICC) also shared an old video of Warne where he is seen talking about the 'ball of the century".
"Ball of the century was a fluke. Really, I never did it again, but I think it was meant to be. As a leg-spinner we always want to bowl a perfect leg-spinner, it changed my life both on and off the field. Mike Gatting was the best player of spin in England's team, so it was a special moment," Warne said in the video.
In the match against England, Australia had scored 289 runs in the first innings, and it was in the hosts' innings when Warne dismissed Gatting.
Warne ended up taking four wickets in the first innings and another four in the second.
This effort by Warne helped Australia register a win by 179 runs in the Test.
Warne had an impeccable record in the Ashes as he picked up 195 wickets from just 36 matches and this is also the world record for the most wickets against an opponent in Tests.
The spinner is the second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket as he finished his career with 708 scalps, only behind Muttiah Muralitharan.
He played 194 ODIs for Australia and finished his career in the 50-over format with 293 wickets. He was a crucial member of the Australian 1999 World Cup final squad as he took 20 wickets in the tournament.
In the final against Pakistan, Warne managed to take four wickets and finished with figures of 4-33. It remains the best bowling figures for a spinner in any World Cup final.
