June 28, 1870. William Yardley scored the first hundred in the history of Oxford vs Cambridge matches, but the target for Oxford was a mere 179. Oxford were cruising along at 72 for 1, and later, at 153 for 3. Then, at one stage, they needed 4 runs with 4 wickets in hand. Then Frank Cobden intervened with his raw pace and bowled an over impactful enough to lend his name to the match. Abhishek Mukherjee looks back at one of the most spectacular Varsity matches.