The Mother of all Cricket Matches

I have never written about cricket in my blog before, but when the match was something like the one played between Australia and South Africa on 12th March, its worth every second I spend on writing this.

872 runs were scored in a day, with the ball reaching the fence in 88 occasions and sailing over the ropes in 26 occasions. All of the above figures broke the earlier records. Other records to tumble were the maximum runs to be conceded by a bowler in a 10 over spell – by Michael Lewis of Australia. Roger Telemachus equaled the record for the maximum no of runs conceded in a single over – 29.

The record breaking spree was started by Australia, which scored 434 after winning the toss and choosing to bat first. They became the first team to cross 400, and posted the highest ODI total. But none who watched the first innings would have even guessed in their dreams that the record would stand for just 4 hours.

Ricky Ponting thrashed 164 from just 105 balls, and 3 more Australians joined the party with half centuries. There were two stunning catches by the South Africans, one by Hall to get rid of the dangerous Gilchrist and the other by Dippenaar to get rid of Ponting, who was on his way to score the first double hundred in ODI’s.

Ponting looked like a man possessed. From the moment he arrived at the crease, his only mission was to hit the ball as hard as possible, out of the ground and help his side post a challenging total. His innings reminded me of his assault against the Indians in the 2003 World Cup finals at the same venue.

During the break, I would have had a bet with anyone in this world that South Africa would loose this match. After the match started, my belief got stronger, with the first wicket falling off the second over. 434 looked a distant possibility.

What followed from the third over was a dream, which would take a long time to sink in, and a very long time to be seen again. Gibbs and Smith took the attack to the Aussies. They had nothing to loose, and so was giving their best in taking their teams total as close as possible to Australia’s mammoth total.

In the process, they were scoring at 9 runs an over, and the asking rate never went into the 2 digit figure. Smith was looking like a man on a mission. Even though his innings did not last long, just 55 balls, but he had scored 90, which was enough to instill belief in the batsmen to follow that if they play positively they could win the match.

Soon after Smith left, Gibbs took over. If Ponting’s innings was fabulous, then Gibbs’s innings was fantabulous. His innings brought the pressure back on the Aussies, and suddenly the target of 434 looked achievable.

Gibbs also looked set for a double hundred, but he too got out, skying a Symond’s delivery in an attempt to accelerate the score. After Gibb’s innings, the difference between the no of balls and the runs to be scored was reduced to mere 50; the difference at the start of the South African innings was 134.

After Gibbs’s departure, it was left to Boucher to finish off the innings, which he did in style. Boucher kept up one end of the wicket, while he kept loosing partners. There were useful contributions from van der Wath and Telemachus, and South Africa were slowly inching towards victory.

Soon they became the second team in the history of ODI’s to cross 400, barely 4 hours after Australia had set that record.

7 runs were required from the last 6 balls. Brett Lee, one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket was the bowler. The final over was a fitting to the entire match. There were 2 fours, a wicket and a single from a tailender.

As Boucher hit the winning runs, the stadium erupted, the South African team ran into the ground and hugged Boucher. The Aussies were still dazed; they could not believe that their mammoth score was overhauled. There were many in the crowd who shed tears, unable to believe what they had just witnessed.

I was one of the few unlucky souls who missed the live match. I was on my way back to Hyderabad after visiting my parents for the weekend. I missed the final 10 overs, but was fortunate enough to witness Gibbs’s incredible innings.

This match is sure to change the outlook of ODI’s; teams can now think of achieving targets in excess of 300, which till a few years back looked unachievable. With the rules of ODI’s loaded highly in favour of the batsmen, we can look forward to matches where such huge scores would be overhauled.

At the end of the day, my heart went out to all the bowlers, who were made to look like club level players. All of them bowled their heart out, but watched helplessly as the bowl was thrashed out of the ground. There were just 2 maiden overs out of the 99.5 overs bowled. Even a single bowler did not have an economy rate less than 6 runs an over.

But all the hard hittings, huge scores and tight chasing is good for the future of ODI cricket. Matches like these increase the viewerships and makes cricket popular.