My most memorable cricket World Cup moment? Uh-m...theyre two matches [many moments] rolled into one - Australia v/s South Africa 1999 World Cup super-six game and the immediately ensuing semi-finals in Headingly and Edgbaston respectively. Ive got great admiration for Australia but never liked them. Ive always hated them with real gusto. A rather iffy beginning to their WC campaign with two consecutive losses saw them needed to go undefeated if they were to lift the trophy. I remember Australia with their backs to the wall needed to chase down South Africas challenging target in a certain number of overs after a swashbuckling century from Herschelle Gibbs. Crisis man Steven Tugga Waugh defying the odds seemed to be on a roll determined not to throw in the white towel. A legendary moment was waiting in the wings. Unbeaten on 56 runs, Steven waugh flicks the ball in the air towards short mid-wicket. Gibbs while still not in complete control of the ball drops an absolute sitter to my utter astonishment. Steven Waughs famous remark You just dropped the World Cup, mate. is now a part of cricketing folklore. Funnily enough he actucally didnt say those words. His exact words were You just cost your team the game, mate. Steven Waugh went onto score his glorious second century guiding his team to another enthralling encounter against their old nemesis South Africa. Very rarely you see Steven Waugh fist-pumping the air and showing emotions after a win. It told us what it meant to him and Australia. A new-found belief of invinciblity surrounded and shone like a halo behind Australia. Yet it seemed like a herculian task to defeat a formidable Hansie Cronje led well oiled South African machine again in Edgbaston. What followed was arguably the greatest game in WC cricket. Australia batting first laid down a rather timid total of 213. Me rooting for the firm underdogs South Africa thought chasing this paltry total was a mere formality. Little did I know Shane Hollywood Warne had other ideas. After a rather cautious but firm stand of 50-odd runs between Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs, they fell victims to the magical trickery of Warnie in quick succession. An absolute mayhem struck South Africa leaving them in tatters in a blink of an eye. Wickets fell like a pack of cards one after the other. Hansie Conje failed to inspire his team with his batting unlike his Australian counterpart. But to be fair to him he got a shocker of a decision. The only silverlining in the sky was their brickwall Jacques Kallis, who was playing a valiant knock at the other end. He took it upon himself to see his team through to the finals. Slowly but surely they snailed through with a couple of vital partnerships. Lightning struck twice with Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher getting dismissed. Glenn McGrath had spun a web around Boucher with his economical bowling. As it was often the case during that WC, ultimately it always boiled down to Lance Zulu Klusener to get his team out of troubled waters. Until then he was having a dream WC and had caught the imagination of entire cricketing world let alone South African public. He just couldnt put a foot wrong. Without much ado he was up and running leaving Australia gasping for last breath. Paul Reifel dropping him at long-on was a sacrilege which Steve Waugh couldnt afford. Slowly but surely Australias hands on the trophy was slipping away like grains of sand through your hand. But unfortunately Lance Klusener was losing his partners at the other hand. He had to contend with last man standing Allan Donald as his batting partner. South Africa needed 9 runs of the last over with Lance on the batting crease. Tension was rife in the air like a razor blade. A rather nervy Steven Waugh threw the ball to trembling Damien Fleming. The plan was to bowl a bit wide outside the off-stump full. The idea was to restrict Lance from scoring boundaries. But Lance was in mood to relent. Zulu hit the first two deliveries through the extra-covers like a rocket for four. Australias Bill Lawry on commentary in his inimitable style screamed his lungs out like only he could, hiding his disenchantment since he couldnt take sides as a commentator. His commentating partner Mike Procter of South Africa faced no such conundrum. He was in mood to hide his joy. The game was firmly in the bags with just one run needed from four deliveries. But one last twist and turn was in waiting. Zulu blocked two balls failing to score any runs out of those. One of those deliveries saw Allan Donald narrowly escaping a run-out attempt prompting Mike Procter to say this on air What....Is....Allan.....Donald....Doing?! Not in the mood to take this game to the last ball, edgy Zulu decided to take a non-existent single leaving his side high and dry. Allan Donald failing to quickly respond to Zulus call was run-out at the batting end. Optimism turned into despair in a moment for South Africans. Australia progressed to finals since they had beaten South Africa in the previous game. A tie was no consolation for the Proteas cause it seemed very much like a loss shattering their long cherished dream of WC trophy. It left me gut-wrenching too. Turning Points/Memorable Moments: Steven Waughs Century Harschelle Gibbs Drop Catch Shane Warne 4-wicket spell Jacques Kallis Valiant Knock Lance Kluseners Powerhouse Batting Bill Lawry and Mike Procter on Commentary Allan Donalds Comical Run-Out
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 15:20:51 +0000
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