There was, however, a near controversy in the latter stages of the match.

Portisch, still cool at this stage of the match, chose the correct 27 Qc3!

The early stages of the match were close with both of the first two sets going down to a deciding leg.

They then defeated Ukraine 2-0 in a friendly, despite being reduced to ten men for the late stages of the match.

The middle order typically sets the stage for an aggressive assault on the bowling in the final 10 overs of the match.

But Courier took his forte away from him in the latter stages of the match.

If that was rough enough, it hardly improved for him at any stage of the match.

But at this stage of the match, he was already on the brink, and hoped to go for victory in the middle game.

In the early stages of the match, the crowd was subdued.

That would indeed be the smartest thing for the challengers to do at this stage of the match.