On this day 1976

On this day in 1976, India finished off a historic run chase in Port of Spain, levelling the Test series against the West Indies.

It was the 3rd Test of India tour of the West Indies, and they started the last day at 134/1, chasing the then world record target of 403. But prior to that, Sir Viv Richards made 177 runs in the West Indies first inning, where they made 359. For India, it was Bhagwath Chandrasekhar who topped the bowling with figures of 6 for 120, while Bishan Bedi took the other 4 wickets.

In reply, India managed only 228 as Michael Holding ran through the Indian batting line-up with figures of 6 for 65. During the West Indies 2nd inning, Alvin Kallicharran went on to score a century before the West Indies declared the inning at 271/6, leaving India with a target of 403.

On day 5, an overnight pair of Sunil Gavaskar and Mohinder Amarnath started the proceedings. Gavaskar was the first to dismiss. However, that was after putting up a partnership of 108 runs for the second wicket and scoring 102 runs himself. Then Mohinder Amarnath went on to put on another partnership of 159 runs for the 3rd wicket with Gundappa Viswanath, who was run out for a well-made 112 when the total was 336. After all the hard work, Mohinder Amarnath too was dismissed in the same fashion for a brilliant 85, just 11 runs short of the target. Brijesh Patel, who made an unbeaten 49, and Madan Lal made sure India reached the target without further losses as they set a new world record for the highest run chase in Test cricket history, which stood for almost 3 decades.