When was the pink ball used in first-class cricket for the first time?
England and Australia are set to face each other in the second Ashes Test under the lights from December 4 at the Gabba in Brisbane. Ahead of the clash, let us have a look at the time when the pink ball was used for the first time in first-class cricket.
Australia and England are set to face each other in the second Ashes Test at the Gabba in Brisbane from December 4. The match will be played under the lights with the pink ball, as Australia would be hoping to continue their dominance. As far as the pink ball is concerned, the first-ever day-night Test match was played in November 2015 at the Adelaide Oval as Australia and New Zealand locked horns. But then, when was the first time the pink ball was used in first-class cricket?
We have to go back to January 2010, when the pink ball was trialled in first-class cricket under the lights. It took place at the Regional Four-Day Competition in the West Indies between Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana. Daren Ganga was the captain of Trinidad, while Sewnarine Chattergoon led Guyana in the historic encounter.
Lendl Simmons also created history, becoming the first-ever centurion in pink-ball first-class matches as he scored 107 runs while Denesh Ramdin followed suit to score an unbeaten 109 runs. Batting first, Trinidad and Tobago posted 416 runs in 133.5 overs in their first innings. Brandon Bess took the first-ever wicket to fall with the pink ball as he dismissed Justin Guillen for just 18 runs.
First-ever pink ball first-class game ended in a draw
In response, Guyana were skittled for 273 runs with Imran Khan registering a first-ever five-wicket haul with the pink ball. Having taken a lead of 143 runs, Trinidad and Tobago made the game interesting as they declared on 199/8 in their second innings to set a target of 343 runs for their opposition in 96 overs.
Guyana took up the challenge with Narsingh Deonarine slamming an unbeaten century while Chattergoon also notched up a fighting 73. However, the match ended in a draw with Guyana finishing on 265/5 in 96 overs, just 78 runs away from the target.
Nevertheless, it turned out to be a successful experiment eventually, as pink ball was finalised to use in day-night Test matches five years later.
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