The Greatest one dayer ever!
All those folks who watched the Aus-SA cricket match last Sunday should consider themselves extremely lucky, for having witnessed a spectacular batting performance by two of the best teams in One-day cricket! I did not watch this match in its entirety, but i guess i watched about 60-70% of the match. When i came back home on Sunday afternoon, i saw Love Elephant watching Ind-Eng Mohali Test and while he was channel surfing, i noticed that Gilchrist was doing what he was best at, belting the bowlers with no mercy. We then switched back to Ind-Eng Test match, hoping for a miracle from Kumble - Bhaji duo. After about an hour, when we switched back to ESPN to check score, we were literally thrown out of our chairs! Ponting had literally massacred the South African bowlers, the score was increasing exponentially! Incidentally, this is the same ground where he slaughtered a toothless Indian bowling attack in a World Cup final. After 50 overs of Aussie innings, I was feeling sorry for the South African bowlers. Little did i know then, that i would be feeling the same for Aussie bowlers by the end of the day! I dont know what was in Smith's mind at that point, but i gave up watching that match!!
I went out for a quick visit to a nearby temple (to pray for world peace of course :) ) and when i came back, i switched on the TV, expecting to see Ponting holding the cup. But it was a terrible anti-climax when i saw the SA scorecard, it read 187/1 in 18 odd overs!! I was trying to calculate the required rate and i just couldn't believe that this is happening! And i continued watching the game, what would later on be called as the greatest one-dayer ever played in the History of International cricket.Gibbs was having a blast, perhaps the only chance that he gave was not utilised by Bracken. When Bracken dropped the catch of Gibbs(when he was at 130), i was just reminded of 1999 World Cup semifinal (when Steve "God" Waugh made the historic statement 'Mate, you have just dropped the World Cup' to the victim- Gibbs ). Every single run was important in the chase. Perhaps the most important contribution was from Ntini, when he made that crucial single run that tied the scores. The rest was ofcourse, history!
What impresses me (and the rest of the world too, i believe) is the attitude of the South African team to go for the chase. At no point of the chase did they display a defeatist attitude, they were thoroughly positive and they were determined to prove a point to the Aussies (there is a lot of background to this chase, if you had been following the SA tour of Aussies and the last 4 one-dayers in SA). Here is what Smith said, when asked about the team strategy that was decided during Lunch break for the chase: "Well, when someone has made 400+ on board, there is no such thing as strategy. All you need to do is just go out and have a go at every ball".
After seeing all this, i switched back to CNN-IBN to watch LOC (Lagaan of Cricket). The show was at the near end and the host made this funny statement :"Dont forget to watch 98 overs of nerve-wracking Test cricket between Ind and England at Mohali tomorrow". I couldn't control my burst of laughter!
All those folks who watched the Aus-SA cricket match last Sunday should consider themselves extremely lucky, for having witnessed a spectacular batting performance by two of the best teams in One-day cricket! I did not watch this match in its entirety, but i guess i watched about 60-70% of the match. When i came back home on Sunday afternoon, i saw Love Elephant watching Ind-Eng Mohali Test and while he was channel surfing, i noticed that Gilchrist was doing what he was best at, belting the bowlers with no mercy. We then switched back to Ind-Eng Test match, hoping for a miracle from Kumble - Bhaji duo. After about an hour, when we switched back to ESPN to check score, we were literally thrown out of our chairs! Ponting had literally massacred the South African bowlers, the score was increasing exponentially! Incidentally, this is the same ground where he slaughtered a toothless Indian bowling attack in a World Cup final. After 50 overs of Aussie innings, I was feeling sorry for the South African bowlers. Little did i know then, that i would be feeling the same for Aussie bowlers by the end of the day! I dont know what was in Smith's mind at that point, but i gave up watching that match!!
I went out for a quick visit to a nearby temple (to pray for world peace of course :) ) and when i came back, i switched on the TV, expecting to see Ponting holding the cup. But it was a terrible anti-climax when i saw the SA scorecard, it read 187/1 in 18 odd overs!! I was trying to calculate the required rate and i just couldn't believe that this is happening! And i continued watching the game, what would later on be called as the greatest one-dayer ever played in the History of International cricket.Gibbs was having a blast, perhaps the only chance that he gave was not utilised by Bracken. When Bracken dropped the catch of Gibbs(when he was at 130), i was just reminded of 1999 World Cup semifinal (when Steve "God" Waugh made the historic statement 'Mate, you have just dropped the World Cup' to the victim- Gibbs ). Every single run was important in the chase. Perhaps the most important contribution was from Ntini, when he made that crucial single run that tied the scores. The rest was ofcourse, history!
What impresses me (and the rest of the world too, i believe) is the attitude of the South African team to go for the chase. At no point of the chase did they display a defeatist attitude, they were thoroughly positive and they were determined to prove a point to the Aussies (there is a lot of background to this chase, if you had been following the SA tour of Aussies and the last 4 one-dayers in SA). Here is what Smith said, when asked about the team strategy that was decided during Lunch break for the chase: "Well, when someone has made 400+ on board, there is no such thing as strategy. All you need to do is just go out and have a go at every ball".
After seeing all this, i switched back to CNN-IBN to watch LOC (Lagaan of Cricket). The show was at the near end and the host made this funny statement :"Dont forget to watch 98 overs of nerve-wracking Test cricket between Ind and England at Mohali tomorrow". I couldn't control my burst of laughter!
1 comment:
I wud never have known about this biggest ODI score and the wonderful match if not for yu and another friend. I still remember South Africa's unfortunate defeat to Australia in world cup ,during my 10th boards !
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