00:00Let's rewind the clock to October 1997 at Shekhopora, where South African faced Pakistan
00:07in the second test.
00:08In tough subcontinental condition, one man stood tall, Adam Bakker.
00:12The right-handed played the innings of his life, scoring a brilliant 96 runs of 191 balls
00:19in 236 minutes, smashing 12 crisp boundaries and one solid six.
00:24He was just four runs short of what could have been his median test century.
00:28Sadly, it was not to be.
00:30That knock of 96 remained his highest test score in test cricket.
00:34Despite playing 19 tests in his career, he never managed to reach the magical three-figure
00:39mark.
00:40What made his innings truly special was how he handled Pakistan's spin duo Mushtaq Ahmad
00:45and Siklian Mushtaq.
00:47On turning tracks in the subcontinent, facing these two was not a walk in the park.
00:52But Adam Bakker stood firm, showed great technique and played them with confidence and class.
00:57So was he unlucky to miss out on a century?
01:00Did he deserve those extra four runs?
01:03Watch the video and relive the moment.
01:05Then tell us what do you think, was he really out?
01:08Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
01:13Azar plays and it's going to be Bowles and it's going to be four runs off the bat of Adam Bakker down
01:20to the vacant third man area.
01:23First runs of the innings.
01:25Well, it's given him four runs but I don't think it entirely went where he wanted.
01:30I think Mahmood won't be too displeased with seeing Bakker play this shot away from his
01:36body.
01:37The bat gets a long way away from his body and that's why he can't control it.
01:40It went in the air through about second gully.
01:43They are three slips and then the gap to the gully went between them and there it is again.
01:51No ball called this time but once more it's down to third man through the gap between third
01:58slip and gully and it's four more.
02:00Yeah, I think we'll see an alteration here, maybe two gullies and two slips.
02:04Not quite enough pace to get the fine edge, more the thicker edge which will go towards
02:09fourth slip or gully.
02:10That's the no ball call.
02:13But it's the shot that Mahmood will be more interested in like me.
02:18Oh, that's very well bowled but runs here for Bakker off the thick outside edge.
02:26But in fact it will be a boundary and it's a pretty quick outfield, so a boundary to
02:34end the over.
02:3531 for no loss, South Africa.
02:36Yeah.
02:37Oh.
02:38Oh.
02:39Oh.
02:40Oh.
02:41Oh.
02:42Oh.
02:43Oh.
02:44Oh.
02:45Oh.
02:46Oh.
02:47Oh.
02:48Oh.
02:49Oh.
02:50Oh.
02:51Oh.
02:52Oh.
02:53Oh.
02:54Oh.
02:55Oh.
02:56That's put away nicely by Bakker.
02:58That's what they've got to do.
02:59They've got to be patient, wait for the loose one.
03:02And when it was there on that occasion, Bakker made no mistake.
03:07That's the golden rule, isn't it, at this level.
03:09Lots of people round the bats and really accurate bowling, but as soon as the loose ball comes,
03:14capitalize.
03:15And Adam Bakker did just that.
03:19Little short, little wide, turning away, plenty of room.
03:24Four.
03:25Four.
03:26Yeah.
03:27Well, that's a good stroke.
03:28Four runs.
03:29Mustac gave it a bit of air.
03:30He came down the wicket and paid it out of the middle, more or less out of the middle
03:36of the bat.
03:37Yes, I like the idea from Mustac to toss it up a little bit, but it's wide.
03:44You see, it's way, way out there.
03:47It frees the batsman's arms and get his arms out.
03:50You need width on these slow pitches.
03:53I always feel as a batsman, if you bowl at me wicket to wicket, you make it harder for
03:57me to score.
03:58Bowled.
03:59That's the Googler there.
04:00I don't think he read that one.
04:01No, he didn't.
04:02He was feeling for it.
04:03He was back.
04:04He's looking, he's looking.
04:05He shall, I shan't.
04:06Where do I play at it?
04:07You know, that's beat him on the inside comfortably.
04:08But it's so slow.
04:09You can use your pad as your second line of defense.
04:10It's difficult to get out on these.
04:11That's another fine stroke.
04:12Down the pitch, getting to the half volley and really hitting the ball.
04:16A beautiful arm drive.
04:17Four more.
04:18And that is the 50 partnership.
04:21And no mistake, that's his third arm drive.
04:24He's looking, he's looking, he's looking.
04:26He's looking, he's looking.
04:27He's looking.
04:28He's looking.
04:29He's looking.
04:30He's looking.
04:31He's looking.
04:32Where do I play at it?
04:33You know, that's beat him on the inside comfortably.
04:36But it's so slow.
04:37You can use your pad as your second line of defense.
04:39It's difficult to get out on these.
04:40That's his third four of the over.
04:42It was a little bit short.
04:43And wham, four more.
04:45End of the over, 57 for no wicket.
04:48Using his feet.
04:49That's a handsome stroke.
04:50And that's taking him to his 50.
04:51That really was a fine shot.
04:53Coming down the pitch.
04:54To Sack Lane.
04:55And cover driving for three excellent runs.
04:5651.
04:57out of 77 for no wicket.
04:5851 out of 77 for no wicket.
05:14A fine shot coming down the pitch to Sack Lane and cover driving for three excellent runs.
05:2251 out of 77 for no wicket.
05:27Well, that was a very nice innings, actually.
05:30Well put together for a young man who was, I think if he was honest, and I think he is,
05:35would say he wasn't altogether sure of Mushtaq's deliveries, but he stuck it out.
05:40He worked at it, he realised how quickly the pitch was slow and played a lot of pull shots.
05:47Used his feet nicely here and did a couple of other times to Mushtaq.
05:52Yeah, I thought it was a very nicely constructed 50.
05:56For no wicket at T.
06:00Backer has 56 of them and Kirsten has 22.
06:04And how well these two South Africans complemented one another.
06:08There you see the figure in brackets on the right, the number of balls they faced.
06:14Backer had 10 more than Kirsten, 89 to 79.
06:19So when we got a start, which was some time after, I think the ground was fit,
06:24but the groundsman was reluctant to let play start and perhaps was not put under enough pressure, who knows.
06:30And, but when play did start, we've had a most entertaining 27 overs cricket.
06:3889 for no wicket, the South African score.
06:41They prospered reasonably against Wazim Akram, good to see him back.
06:46And Azar Mahmood at the start, none for five, Wazim in six overs, just as though he'd never been away.
06:54And then the spinners, Mushtaq, none for 25 in six.
06:58Saklin, none for 22 in six.
07:00And Ali Rizvi, none for eight in two.
07:04So there we are at T on the second day.
07:07South Africa, who won the toss, 89 for no wicket.
07:12Well, he gets this one just over the head of Mid-On.
07:18It's going to be four runs, but there were shouts of catch it, as I don't know that he quite got hold of it.
07:23There he goes through with the shot again, which is an indication that he didn't hit it as well as he hoped to.
07:29Yes, again, a good, bold shot from Adam Barker, not getting completely to the pitch of the ball,
07:37and just been very lucky in there not to get caught at Mid-On.
07:43But again, his aggressiveness is helping him, his batting, and South Africans get on to a good total.
07:5196 for no loss.
07:59And Adam Barker, all defense at the moment.
08:27And I think he realizes that it's not too far away before the batsman will be offered the light,
08:32whether the spinners are operating or not.
08:34And there's no reason to take any chances at this stage.
08:40Rather start again tomorrow, and in good light, go to your 100.
08:45Maiden over, 1.54 for two.
08:47Oh, this is going to be four runs, but lucky runs.
09:11Again, there was a big turn there for Mushtak, the leg spinner.
09:16And he just dabbed at it with a bat, and it flew between the wicketkeeper and the slip.
09:23Well, again, slip is quite wide.
09:25We saw yesterday, Masi Makram couldn't get hold of one because it's quite wide.
09:30And the slip today is very wide.
09:32Over the head of mid-on, and it will be four runs.
09:40So Adam Barker has decided, like he did yesterday, he's not going to be tied down,
09:47which he has been a little bit this morning.
09:48All the South African batsmen have, and he's down the wicket there.
09:52He wasn't quite to the pitch of it.
09:54We saw that yesterday when he just cleared mid-on as well.
09:57But he got it over the head of Syed Anwar, and it's four runs.
10:07Now he drives through the covers.
10:09I don't know that it's got enough on it to go to the boundary.
10:12Mushtak is after it.
10:14Bad knees and all.
10:15They'll be able to get three.
10:16Well, it might actually help Jumbacca to look to be positive.
10:25It was a nice offside shot, because it's quite obvious that he's a bit nervous and worried.
10:30He's not played particularly well this morning.
10:32The bowlers have got on top of him.
10:34Look, he's streaky.
10:35Two or three shots, one over mid-on and one pass slip.
10:38And yesterday he was very positive, and he was successful with it.
10:42But a good positive innings, wonderful bowling from Mushtak, whichever which way you look at it.
10:50Bacca out for 96, 12 fours and 1 six.
10:56So Jaunty Rhodes comes out to the middle.
10:58The fall of Adam Bacca's wicket.
11:00Adam Bacca dismissed for 96.
11:03Very unfortunate.
11:04I think he'll be disappointed at being given out here,
11:07because when you see from the front on camera,
11:09I think you can see some daylight between bat and the ball.
11:12Now take a look.
11:18I think very unlucky to be given out.
11:22The bat must have hit the boot, and that's where the noise came from.
11:30Well, that's missed the bat clearly.
11:34Adam Bacca, a right-handed batsman and the nephew of former South African player Ali Bacca,
11:40was known for his attacking batting style, especially in limited-overs matches.
11:45He first caught attention when he toured Sri Lanka in 95-96, with South Africa under-24 team.
11:52Soon after, he made his test debut in the following season.
11:56Though he struggled at the start, he bounced back with a brilliant 96 runs against Australia
12:01in Centurion.
12:02During the 97-98 tour of Pakistan, he once again played well, scoring two 50s,
12:08including another solid 96 at Shekhopura, which remained his highest test score in test cricket.
12:14He showed good form on the Australian tour, but things changed when he had a disappointing series in England.
12:20Later, he failed to perform against the West Indies and Zimbabwe, which pushed him out of the national team.
12:27After being away for almost seven years, he made a surprise return in an ODI series against England in 2004-05,
12:34thanks to his strong domestic form.
12:36But unfortunately, he could not take advantage of the opportunity.
12:40He played a poor shot and was dropped again.
12:43In test cricket, Adam Becker played 19 matches, scoring 833 runs at an average of 26.03.
12:51He never scored a century in test, but made five half centuries, with his highest score being 96, which he reached twice.
12:59In first-class cricket, Adam Becker had a strong and consistent career.
13:03He played 112 matches, scoring 7,283 runs at an impressive average of 38.33.
13:10He scored 18 centuries and 33 fifties, showing his class and reliability at the domestic level.
13:18His highest score in first-class cricket was 210, and he also took 99 catches in the field.
13:24He is best remembered for a spectacular catch he took while fielding deep to remove Sachin Tundalkar in the 97 Test Series against India.
13:33He had the talent and potential to be a solid opening bestman, but unluckily, he could not prove himself in the test match.
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