Hello! I am back with another topic. This time I’ve come to write about 5 of the closest encounters in cricket. I’m going to write about 5 close encounters in the shorter version of the game. Cricket has seen some amazing finishes. As we know its an unpredictable game, a result is mostly obtained.
Lets now see about the 5 close ODI finishes:
1.South Africa vs. Australia – World cup semi-finals.
This is one of the best nail biting finishes in cricket history. This was an epic and all the cricket lovers would like this for sure. Australia were looking good and so were ponting, Steve Waugh and bevan. Pollock troubled the aussies and picked up 5 wickets.. The target was 214. The proteas started well. Gibbs was batting well and a sudden collapse started by Warne let them down. However kallis and Rhodes started the resurrection work and built an 84 run partnership before Rhodes fell. Pollock provided some fireworks but couldn’t hang on. The wickets fell at regular intervals. Klusener came in at the score of 175/6. He batted with grit and brought the asking rate to 8 from the last 6 balls. Fleming bowled the last over. The 1st ball was dispatched to the boundary with a cracking cover drive by klusener. The 2nd ball was sent to fence in the same direction as the 1st one but with even more greater force. Ponting was the fielder on the boundary and all he could do is just watch the ball racing like a rocket. The 3rd ball was a dot ball and Donald survived a missed run out chance after he reacted late to a klusener’s no. the 4th ball sealed the fate of the proteas as Donald was run out for a needless single. The aussies advanced to the finals as they had beaten the proteas in their earlier encounter. This is the best finish according to my knowledge.
2. India vs. England- Natwest series final
This is a classic encounter. A perfect treat for cricket lovers. One cannot expect such a thrilling final. India has chased a few 300 + targets and has emerged victors. This one took them to new heights. England batted first and scored 325 with the help of centuries from hussain and trescothick. Flintoff provided fireworks at the end of the English innings with a superb 40 off 32 balls. The Indians had to chase 326 for victory and hence needed a flying start. Ganguly started the onslaught with some fierce hits to the boundary. Sehwag was tentative at the beginning, but on seeing his captain take on the bowlers, he joined the party. Ganguly hit some great shots before he fell to Tudor. His dismissal was a cheeky one. Sehwag followed soon and all of a sudden India slumped to 147/5. Dinesh mongia fell victim to a bad decision. Then came 2 young guns named yuvraj and kaif. They both scored runs quickly with some sensible and quick running between the wickets and occasional boundaries. They brought India from the brink of defeat to a commendable position. Yuvraj played a tired shot to get dismissed for a chanceless 69. Harbhajan Singh joined kaif and built a crucial 47 run stand with kaif. Harbhajan fell victim to a flintoff yorker and kumble followed 2 balls later. India had to score 2 runs to win off the final over to pull an emphatic and a historic win. They made it with 3 balls to spare. The last run was an appeal for a run out, but the umpire turned it down and hence India romped home. This is one of the greatest run chases in the history of ODI cricket.
- India vs. Pakistan-Bangladesh Independence cup finals
This is a classic indo-pak encounter. It was a perfect final. Pakistan batted first and amassed 314/5 in 48 overs with the help of centuries from ijaz ahmed and saeed anwar. India reached 316 for the loss of 7 wickets with just 1 ball to spare. Sachin and ganguly provided the perfect start by not allowing the bowlers to settle down. Sachin was more aggressive in his approach and scored a quick fire 41 of 26 balls before getting out to afridi. Robin singh was promoted to no:3 and came handy. He scored a brilliant 83 and provided a good stand to ganguly. After singh’s dismissal, wickets fell at regular intervals. Ganguly was scoring runs on the other side and finally he too was out for 124. The tail enders contributed little and kanitkar hit the winning runs of the 5th ball of the final over to clinch the victory and the trophy for India. This is one of its kind. A typical nail biting indo- pak finish.
4.Australia vs. England- Natwest trophy finals:-
This is another close encounter. Though it was a low scoring match, it provided ample entertainment for the viewers. It was the natwest finals and England met Australia for the trophy. England won the toss and put in Australia to bat. The aussies were off to a flyer. They raced to 50 in just 6.5 overs. Gough made the breakthrough by removing Hayden for 17. Gilchrist made 27, before he was caught by pierterson off flintoff. From there on, harmison and flintoff put the brakes on the scoring rate and there by sharing 6 wickets between them. Giles and Collingwood restricted the rate as well. Mike hussey was the only lone star in the aussie team. He made an unbeaten 62, before he ran out of partners. England’s run chase was a poor one. England couldn’t manage the pace of lee and the line and length of McGrath thus losing their 1st 5 wickets for mere 33 runs. Then came the pair of Collingwood and Jones. They steadied their sinking hopes of regaining the title by getting involved in a thrilling 116 run partnership for the 6ht wicket, before Collingwood fell victim to a brilliant run-out effected by symonds and gilchrist. Jones then carried on where he left with Collingwood. He was well supported by Giles. With the score at 161, Jones failed to read a Hogg top spinner and fell victim to him. Giles and gough added some valuable runs before gough was run out. The scores were tied after 50 overs, with both the teams sharing the trophy. Never has many low scoring matches turned into close encounters.
- Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka-coca cola champions trophy:-
This was another classic encounter and a low scoring affair. Pakistan won the toss
and elected to bat. Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular interval, thanks to vaas, Arnold and murali. Anwar, inzamam and youhana helped Pakistan reach a respectable total of 196. Sri Lanka lost atapattu early to akram. Then came Arnold, who in the company of kaluwitharana, helped Sri Lanka reach 157 for the loss of just 1 wicket and with 9 wickets remaining and over 15 overs to go. Pakistan found a hero in razzaq, who started the Lankan downfall. He removed kalu with an out swinger. Arnold fell to a superb top spinner from shoaib malik. Akram combined with razzaq to dismiss the remaining 7 batsmen for just 23 runs. Akram scalped 3 and razzaq scalped 5. Razzaq bowled with vigor and discipline. He bowled some beautiful reverse swinging deliveries and always had the batsman clueless. Akram provided ample support for him and they both turned a match that seemed a one sided contest for most of the game into a lively one in just an hour. It was vintage Pakistan. Pakistan is known for its fighting spirit and it proved it yet again here.
These are the 5 closest encounters that impressed me. There are a lot of other close encounters in cricket, but these moved me the most.
I thank you for this wonderful opportunity. Please excuse me if I had made any mistakes.
Thank you