The Unbelievable Comeback: South Africa's Triumph over Australia in the 434-run Thriller"

After the I innings my opinion:

“Graeme Smith is one of the most unluckiest captains of this era.”

After the match was over:

“Ricky Ponting just superseded Graeme Smith in bad luck after just 50 overs of cricket”

Let me explain the context:

South Africa VS Australia,Johannesburg,2006,THE FINAL(Bilateral tournament).

• Australia decided to bat first and scored a mammoth 434–4.
• “Graeme Smith is one of the most unluckiest captains of this era.”
• As Graeme Smith had to cling on to this dubious honor of captaining a team who conceded the highest total in ODIs ever.
• During the overs when Ponting and Hussey were slamming them all over the park,Herschelle Gibbs(Who actually had a bad hang over that day,I mean literally) walked over to Mark Boucher and asked in an amazed tone,
  ”Bouch,I think they are going to do well over 400 today”.
• To which Boucher replied,
  ”Try again Hersch!! do the math.We are going to do bloody well to keep them to 400”

End of the innings drama in the dressing room:-

• Micky Arthur(then SA coach) was asked to devise a plan to score 434 to which he sarcastically replied,
  “Sure.A plan to chase 434 I have done a loads of those”
• After some time Kallis said to cheer up the team,“I think they are 15 runs short this looks like a 450-wicket”
• But little did we know that South Africa has picked up the destiny’s pen and were marching on to rewrite the history that was only created 50 overs ago.

The MIRACLE:-

• SA dwindled a bit with the wicket of Boeta Dippenar which might have been a blessing in disguise.
• In came Herschelle Gibbs,the man who would get his name written in golden words for a CHASE who everyone thought was a waste of time.
• Smashing Australia all over the park he scored a blistering 175 off 111(with a chance given by Bracken) with Graeme Smith who scored 90 off 55.
• This match was no less than a HIGHLIGHTS PACKAGE.

The Last Over:-
In the last over ,last man Makhaya Ntini walked in and SA still requiring one run to tie the scores.
Mark boucher in his book mentioned,

“I have never seen a black man turned white.”

But in came a sophisticated single which was equivalent to a century that day.Then came Boucher’s chance to finish off the match.Brett Lee came infuriating with the ball and lands an over-pitch delivery swinging in to Boucher.But the kind of day it was,it needed a FAIRY TALE ending.
All the effort from SA team was given a Champagne moment by Boucher himself striking the ball over mid-on for a boundary.

They have done it !!!!!!!!!

After seeing this shot,I just wanted to go to my BALCONY and scream
Yes,I saw the complete 100 overs of this match LIVE.Proud of it!!!!











“Ricky Ponting just superseded Graeme Smith in bad luck after just 50 overs of cricket”

Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction.
If this is not a comeback,I don’t know what is.