The Greatest ODI Ever Played;RSAvsAUS

The 5th and the final one day International match between South Africa and Australia played on march 12,2006 held at New Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg has been acclaimed as the greatest ODI match ever played in the history of international cricket.The both first and second team innings crossed over 400 runs with an aggregate of 872 runs in the match.

This Match is the series deciding match since both the teams had won two games each.Both Australia and South Africa were playing without their best one-day bowler GlennMcGrath and Shaun Pollock respectively.
After winning the toss Australian skipper Ricky Ponting decided to bat first.Adam Gilchrist and Simon Katich opened the score board with a good start and they got a partnership of 97 runs until Gilchrist gave up to the wicket keeper Andrew Hall in the 16th over.The skipper Ponting came second and scored his fastest century off 73 balls and he got out at 164 from 105 balls by giving catch to Boeta Dippenaar in the 48th over and his innings consisted of 9 sixes and 13 fours.Ponting and Katich put up a partnership of 139 runs for the 2nd wicket, before Katich was caught at third man by Roger Telemachus.Australia made 40 runs off its last 2 overs and they were the first team to score 400 runs in a one day international.

South Africa need a required run rate of 8.7 an over from the start itself and they lost Dippenaar  for 1 at the start itself .Herschelle Gibbs came at number 3 and reached his 16th ODI hundred in 79 balls and finished with a second highest total ever by a South African with 175 off 111 balls.He and Graeme Smith had a partnership of 187 runs which brought the South Africans back to the game.Gibbs again made a well built partnership with AB de Villiers after Smith got out for 90. The scoring of runs was  stabilized by Johannes Van der Wath and Mark Boucher after the dismissal of Gibbs.By the final over of  the match South Africa need 7 runs with Boucher on strike.He changed the strike by taking a single to Andrew Hall who hit a 4 leaving 2 required off four and the next ball he was got out and the score board became 433-9.Ntini the last batsman of the team managed to take a single and tie the scores.
Boucher then hit a 4 the next ball getting his 19th ODI 50 and commentator Tony Greig was exclaiming that it is the greatest one day matches of all time.

Result:South Africa won the the Match by 1 wicket with a world record chase ever successful by a team

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Tagged as: AUS, Gibbs, Gteatest chase, Johannesburg, Mark Boucher, ODI, Ricky Ponting, RSA, Tony Grieg