One Day cricket always had some of the most thrilling matches in the international cricket, and the Indian team had been part of most of these matches. Two other teams who have had a history among themselves with a series of close encounters, happens to South Africa and Australia. Just considering the last two One Dayers between these two sides, which ended in one wicket wins, and the two run victory margin in the twenty-twenty match says them all.
5) India v Srilanka (Akai Trophy)
The finals of the India-Srilanka-NewZealand series was one of the best between these two sides, as Indians cruised to 307 in the 50 overs as Ganguly and Tendulkar made the big opening stand of 252, even if there could have been a much better score. Srilankans, even after some early fire works from Jayasuriya, and an innings in vain from DeSilva, managed to get bowled out for 301, thanks to some impressive bowling from Ajit Agarkar in the early days of his One Day career.
4) India v Pakistan (Independence Cup)
This happens to be one of the best India-Pakistan encounters ever. Pakistan made a big score of 314/5 in 48 overs. But the Indians were still on the hunt, and after a blazing start by Tendulkar, Ganguly stabilised the innings with a well made 124 and held one side, as the wickets kept falling at the other end, before being bowled out. Finally, it was Kanitkar who hit the winning boundary with just one ball to spare, giving India the win.
3) India v England (Natwest Series)
Indians are in the finals, but they seemed to be at the wrong place at the wrong time as England managed to pile up a massive 325, as Indians seemed all set to lose another final. But Indians seemed to be confident, as Ganguly and Shewag gave a smashing start, and after Ganguly got dismissed for 60 off 43 balls, Indians were five down in no time, with Yuvraj and Kaif at the crease. But these two never looked back and led India to one of its famous victories ever, with one of the best recoveries ever, in the ODI history.
2) South Africa v Australia (World Cup 1999)
This match played in June 1999 is supposed to be one of the best One Day matches ever played, but it saw one of the worst finishes by a team, as Lance Klusener, the star of the series triggered a run out, after getting the team too close to the victory. After some early strikes by Pollock and Donald, Australia was restricted to 68/4 in 17 overs and later to 213. Even after a good opening stand, South Africans failed to capitalize, before the dramatic end sealed the fate of the proteas, and the Australians continued the race and won the World Cup beating Pakistan in style.
1) South Africa v Australia (Yesterday’s big match)
At New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, the best match in the cricketing history occured on my birthday, 12th March (seems to have recieved a birthday gift in the form of a match) as South Africans chased a huge score of 434 and finished at 438/9, thus winning the match by one wicket and winning the series 3-2 against the number one team in the world.
The proteas sent a strong message to the Aussies with this victory, and the test series supposed to start on Thursday, between the two sides is certainly going to be quite interesting. But what happened in the final match is more than just amazing!
After going down 0-2 in the series, Australia came back strongly to make it 2-2, making the final One Dayer relevant. Ponting won the toss and elected to bat, and after scoring only 9 runs in the first 3.4 overs, Australia started to get on the nerves of the bowlers until Gilchrist was finally out.
Even as Katich was comparitively slower, the worst was yet to follow, with Ricky Ponting playing the innings of his life, with the support of Hussey, which was followed by some big shots by Symonds. The record seemed to tumble, as Australians reached 434/4, the highest score in One Day Internationals.
Australian supporters may have already started celebrating, but South Africans just didn’t seem to be under any kind of pressure. After the slower batsman, Dippenar dragged one into the stumps and went back to the pavilion, Gibbs joined Smith to play an innings which made sure that more records would make way for the proteas. His 111 ball 175, after being dropped by Bracken, and Smith’s 55 ball 90 didn’t make sure that the South Africans were winners, as there was still a long way to go.
Even as the wickets kept falling in the end, every one made contributions as they reached the target in style, with a boundary off Boucher’s bat. Bracken finished with 5-67, a very poor way to take a five wicket haul! Mick Lewis finished with a 0-113 off 10 overs, beating Muralitharan’s 0-99 in 10!
One of the worst nightmare matches for bowlers, but a feast for the batsmen as well as the spectators. Will this be the end of Australian Dominance in the World Cricket, with no scary bowling strength Brett Lee seems to be having the same problem like Jason Gillespie, as he get smashed to every corner of the field
It seemed as if 300 was no longer a challenging total these days. Now with South Africans chasing a 400+ score, it is quite amazing to see how the batsmen dominate the game. May be this is the period of the powerful strikers of the ball, with players like Kallis, Dravid and Kaif restricted to playing supporting roles to the big hitters. Lets see how the cricket rating change after this match.
THANKS FOR READING THE REVIEW. KEEP COMMENTING