There have been many low-scoring thrillers in cricket over the years. Be it internationally or in first-class cricket, sometimes matches in which the bowlers shine can also be a very interesting watch. However, the current generation is tending to move toward a batting-centric crowd.
Over 100 years ago, back in 1907 in England, there was one such match that would have made the news on social media and also been of interest to many cricket fans across the world. It was a match between the local sides of Northamptonshire and Gloucestershire, who still play county cricket in England.
Gloucestershire batted first in this match but were very poor. Only one of their players managed to touch double digits. That was skipper Gilbert Jessop, who played 18 Test matches for England and scored 569 runs and averaged 21.88 for the national team. In this game, Jessop only scored 22 runs as the rest of his teammates were bundled over for single-digit runs.
Their innings ended for 60 runs in just 32.5 overs, achieving a lowly run rate of 1.82. The 10 wickets were divided between George Thompson and William East.
With an easy total to chase down and take the lead over, the odds looked in favour of Northamptonshire. But this was not to be because Northamptonshire were worse than Gloucestershire, with not a single player scoring in double digits. This innings had only one hero in the bowling department. George Dennett picked up eight wickets, including four straight ones, to completely decimate the middle order of Northamptonshire. Their opponents were dismissed for just 12 runs.
Gloucestershire came back more confident and started well with Robert Mackenzie, but apart from him and Jessop, the batter faltered yet again. They were dismissed for 88 runs, this time William picking up seven wickets for his team. They were dismissed for a miserly 88 runs, giving Northamptonshire the perfect chance to be a part of what would have been the best comeback in cricket history.
This, however, was not to be. The batters were once again at their worst and scored 40 runs as the match came to a close. They lost seven wickets, with Dennett picking up another seven wickets to take his total for the match to 15 wickets.