G.A. Gooch

114

G.A. Gooch 114 v IndiaBack to boards

Graham Gooch’s 114 against India at Lord’s in 1986 couldn’t prevent the visitors claiming their first victory at the Home of Cricket in Test matches.

Gooch grafted hard for this century, spending nearly six hours at the crease in compiling his score, with twelve fours and a six. The rest of England’s top order offered little resistance though. Derek Pringle, who made 63, shared a stand of 147 with Gooch for the fifth wicket, but Chetan Sharma broke the partnership, knocking over his stumps five minutes before the close on the opening day.

Gooch was particularly strong with his square and on-drives and Wisden commented that whilst this, his sixth Test century was not his most commanding, it did suit the circumstances.

Sharma’s five-wicket haul saw England bowled out for 294 and Dilip Vengsarker’s century helped India to a 47-run first-innings lead. But England collapsed in their second innings to 180 all out with Kapil Dev doing the damage, and the visitors needed only 134 to win in the fourth innings. India went on to win the three-match series 2-0.