On This Day In Cricket - February 26

26th February is remembered in cricket history for major World Cup moments and the birth of several great players. On this day in 2003, Ashish Nehra produced his best World Cup performance with 6 for 23 against England. In 2015, Afghanistan defeated Scotland to record their first-ever World Cup victory. This date also saw Pakistan’s win over the Netherlands in the 1996 World Cup and India Women’s 105-run victory over West Indies Women in 2004. The day also marks the birthdays of West Indies great Sir Everton Weekes, Australia’s unique bowling legend Bill Johnston, and England’s aggressive wicketkeeper-batsman Matt Prior.

On This Day - 26 February 2003 - Ashish Nehra's 6-for Demolished England

Ashish Nehra delivered a historic bowling performance on this day in 2003 against England in an ICC World Cup match in Durban. India batted first and scored 250 for 9 in 50 overs with contributions from Sachin Tendulkar with 50 runs, Rahul Dravid with 62 runs, and Yuvraj Singh with 42 runs. England were 52 for 2 in the 17th over while chasing 251 when Nehra, playing despite an ankle injury, changed the match. He bowled his full spell of 10 overs in one stretch and took 6 wickets for just 23 runs with figures of 10-2-23-6.

Nehra broke England’s batting line-up with accurate swing and tight length. He dismissed captain Nasser Hussain, Alec Stewart on consecutive balls, Michael Vaughan, Paul Collingwood, Craig White, and Ronnie Irani. Out of his 60 deliveries, only 5 were overpitched and just 1 was short, which showed his control. During the spell, after taking his sixth wicket, he ate a banana given by substitute Parthiv Patel and later threw up near the pitch due to exhaustion. His figures of 6 for 23 remained the best bowling performance by an Indian in World Cup history for many years until Mohammed Shami broke the record in 2023. Captain Sourav Ganguly later called it the best ODI performance by an Indian that he had seen.

On This Day - February 26, 1922 - Bill Johnston Was Born

Bill Johnston was born on this day in 1922 in Victoria, Australia. He was one of the most unique and great bowlers in cricket history. He was both a left-arm fast bowler and a left-arm orthodox spinner, which made him very special. Don Bradman regarded him as the finest left-arm bowler Australia ever produced. Johnston was a leading bowler in Bradman’s unbeaten 1948 touring team to England, known as “The Invincibles,” where he took 102 wickets on the tour, the highest by any bowler. He was chosen as Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1949 for his outstanding performance. He was known for his stamina as he bowled fast with the new ball and switched to spin when the ball became old.

Johnston played 40 Test matches for Australia between 1947 and 1955 and took 160 wickets at an average of 23.91. He became the fastest bowler at that time to complete 100 Test wickets during the 1951-52 season. He was considered a weak batsman, but during the 1953 tour of England, he remained not out 16 times in 17 innings and finished with a batting average of 102.00, which was the highest in the team. He also shared a memorable 38-run match-winning partnership for the 10th wicket with Doug Ring against West Indies in 1951-52, helping Australia win the match by 1 wicket. His career ended in 1955 because of a serious knee injury, and he passed away on 25 May 2007 at the age of 85.

On This Day - February 26, 1925 - Sir Everton Weekes Was Born

Sir Everton Weekes was born on this day in 1925 in Barbados. He was one of the West Indies’ greatest batsmen and is regarded as one of the hardest hitters ever in cricket history. He was a key member of the famous West Indies trio known as ’The Three Ws’ along with Sir Frank Worrell and Sir Clyde Walcott. Weekes holds a world record in Test cricket that remains unbroken to this day. He has scored five consecutive centuries in Test matches, achieving this feat in 1948 during a series against India, where he hit hundreds in Delhi, Bombay and Calcutta.

Weekes played 48 Test matches for West Indies between 1948 and 1958 and scored 4,455 runs with an outstanding average of 58.61 and ranked as the ninth highest average in the world among batsmen with at least 30 innings. He also became the fastest batsman in Test history at that time to reach 1,000 runs and achieved the milestone in just 12 innings, a joint record he shared with Herbert Sutcliffe. After his retirement, he served as coach of the Canadian team in 1979 World Cup, worked as a commentator and was also an ICC International Match Referee. For his remarkable contribution to cricket, he was awarded a Knighthood in 1995. He passed away on 1 July 2020 at the age of 95.

On This Day - February 26, 1982 - Matt Prior Was Born

Matt Prior was born in Johannesburg city in South Africa. But later, moved to England with family when he was 11. That’s where he grew up and started playing cricket, later becoming an aggressive wicketkeeper-batsman for England. He made his Test debut in 2007 against West Indies at the historic Lord’s Cricket Ground and scored an unbeaten 126 runs off just 105 balls. With that innings, he became the first English wicketkeeper in cricket history to score a century on Test debut. His attacking style made him a key lower-order batsman for England in Test cricket.

Matt Prior played an important role in many major England victories, including the historic Ashes series wins in 2009 and 2010-11 and England becoming the world’s Number One Test team in 2011. He became the second English wicketkeeper after Les Ames to reach 1,000 Test runs in the fastest time. He played 79 Test matches for England and scored 4,099 runs at an average of 40.18. Behind the stumps, he took 243 catches and completed 13 stumpings. He retired from all forms of professional cricket in June 2015 due to ongoing Achilles tendon injuries.

On This Day - February 26, 1996 - Pakistan Defeats Netherlands in World Cup

Pakistan defeated the Netherlands on this day in 1996 in the 17th match of the Wills World Cup played at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The Netherlands batted first and scored 145 runs for 7 wickets in 50 overs against Pakistan’s bowling attack. Flavian Aponso scored 58 runs off 105 balls, while Klaas-Jan van Noortwijk made 33 runs and Peter Cantrell added 17 runs. Waqar Younis took 4 wickets for 26 runs in 10 overs, and Aaqib Javed took 2 wickets for 25 runs.

Pakistan chased the target of 146 runs without much difficulty. Aamir Sohail was out early for 9 runs by Netherlands captain Roland Lefebvre, but Saeed Anwar controlled the innings after that. He scored an unbeaten 83 runs off 92 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes. Ijaz Ahmed made 39 runs, and Inzamam-ul-Haq remained not out on 18 runs off 13 balls. Pakistan reached 151 runs for 2 wickets in 30.4 overs with 116 balls remaining and won the match by 8 wickets.

On This Day - 26 February 2004 - India Women Thrash West Indies Women in Dhanbad

India Women defeated West Indies Women on this day in 2004 in the first ODI played at Tata Digwadih Stadium in Dhanbad. India batted first and scored 298 runs for 2 wickets in 50 overs. Jaya Sharma scored 97 runs off 97 balls with 10 fours and missed her century by 3 runs. Anju Jain added 67 runs off 93 balls. After their dismissals, Mithali Raj scored an unbeaten 56 runs off 54 balls with 6 fours, and Anjum Chopra made an unbeaten 55 runs off 56 balls. For West Indies, Felicia Cummings and Doris Francis took 1 wicket each.

West Indies Women could not handle the target of 299 runs and were all out for 193 runs in 49.5 overs. Nadine George scored a quick 53 runs off 35 balls with 9 fours and 1 six. Stephanie Power made 28 runs and Verena Felicien scored 27 runs. Neetu David led India’s bowling with 4 wickets for 21 runs in 9.5 overs. Diana David took 2 wickets for 44 runs, and Nooshin Al Khadeer picked up 2 wickets for 32 runs. Amita Sharma also took 1 wicket. India won the match by 105 runs and took an early lead in the series.

On This Day - 26 February 2015 - Afghanistan Won Their First-Ever World Cup Match

Afghanistan won their first World Cup match on this day in 2015 at University Oval. They played against Scotland in 2015 ICC World Cup. Scotland batted first and scored 210 runs in 50 overs. Afghanistan fast bowler Shapoor Zadran took 4 wickets for 38 runs in his 10 overs. Afghanistan had a poor start in the chase of 211 runs and lost 5 important wickets early.

Samiullah Shenwari handled the pressure and scored 96 runs off 147 balls in a fighting innings. When 19 runs were needed from 19 balls, Shenwari was out while trying to hit a six, and the ninth wicket fell. Hamid Hassan, who remained not out on 15 runs, and Shapoor Zadran, who was not out on 12 runs, stayed calm for the last wicket. In the 50th over with 3 balls remaining, Zadran scored the winning runs and Afghanistan won the match by 1 wicket. Zadran ran across the ground after the victory with his arms wide and then fell to the ground in emotion. For a team that first learned cricket in refugee camps in Pakistan and then made it to the World Cup, this win meant everything. It was emotional, proud, and truly historic.