Hat Trick! (36 page)

Authors: Brett Lee

The 1999 World Cup That Toby Did His Project On

On 9 June, in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, Australia was playing South Africa. An amazing thing happened. Steve Waugh clipped a ball off his pads into the hands of Herschelle Gibbs, fielding in close on the leg side. For a split second Gibbs saw Australia’s dream of winning the World Cup lying in the palm of his hand. But as he went to throw the ball into the air to celebrate taking the catch to remove the Australian captain, it fell from his hand to the ground.

Waugh was on 28. About two hours later he hit a ball through mid-wicket to take Australia not only to a memorable win against South Africa but to a semi-final. Steve Waugh ended up scoring 120 not out.

Same teams, but this time it’s a semi-final. The winner goes through to play in the final of the 1999 World Cup. Hansie Cronje wins the toss for South Africa and decides to send Australia in to bat.

And it seems a pretty good decision. But after only five balls Australia have lost Mark Waugh for a duck. Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist soon have the situation looking good again, smashing the ball to all parts of the ground.

When the score reaches 54, Ricky chases a wide delivery from Allan Donald and hits it straight to cover. Out! Caught. Then, five balls later, Australia are under the pump again when Allan Donald has Darren Lehmann caught behind for one.

Only 10 runs later, ‘Gilly’ goes for a big hit outside his off-stump and carves the ball to backward point where Donald takes the catch. Allan
Donald has had a hand in the last three wickets to fall. Australia have gone from a steady 1 for 54 to a very shaky 4 for 68.

Michael Bevan and Steve Waugh are proceeding slowly. They can only manage 20 runs between over number 20 and over number 30. South Africa are not taking wickets, but Australia’s scoring rate has fallen right back. The pressure is intense. Australia have to be careful as they have only one recognised batsman left.

In the 35th over Lance Klusener is bowling to Waugh. The ball is there to be hit and he launches into a beautiful straight drive for four. To the next ball, he plays another straight drive but lofts it over the boundary rope. Ten runs in two balls. This is more like it…

Soon the momentum is starting to swing Australia’s way. The batting of Steve Waugh and Michael Bevan is productive. But just at the critical moment when they are beginning to get on top, Waugh tries to edge a ball that is too close to his body away through the vacant slips area. All he manages to do is get a thickish edge and present an easy catch for Mark Boucher, the South African keeper.

Michael Bevan and Waugh have taken the score from a worrying 4 for 68 to a more respectable 4 for 158. They have put on 90 runs in just over 23 overs, at a reasonable rate of 3.8 runs per over. But now Australia are 5 for 158. And only three balls later Tom Moody is walking back to the pavilion—out for a duck, lbw to Shaun Pollock. Two wickets have fallen in an over.

Australia still have another 11 overs to face, but the bowlers are going to have to help Michael Bevan, who now needs to bat through the innings if Australia are going to build a reasonable score.

Michael Bevan has played really well. He hardly ever slogs. He knows exactly where there are gaps between fieldsmen and he has the ability to keep the scoreboard ticking along without you really thinking that anything much is happening.

But Australia’s bowlers are finding batting difficult against the classy South African bowlers. Warne manages to knock up 18 very handy runs for Australia off only 24 balls. Together, he and Bevan add just under 50 runs in only eight overs. This is a crucial period of the game. Australia only manage to score another six runs after that. Had either lost his wicket earlier, Australia might not have reached 180.

Mark Boucher takes his fourth catch in the 50th and last over of the innings, and Michael Bevan is out for 65. Australia’s total is 213—not a great score. The South Africans feel confident about their chances of winning and going on to the final at Lord’s.

But the pitch is wearing, and will suit Shane Warne. Australia have a great bowling attack and a fantastic fielding team. The Aussies will not be giving up until the final ball is bowled, perseverance being a feature of this team.

The feeling round the ground as the players take lunch is that Australia haven’t scored enough runs. The pitch is still a beauty. The clouds of the morning are breaking up and South Africa have bowled Australia out for well inside the 250 runs that many people felt were needed on such a good batting strip. The South Africans will be feeling confident. They have bowled the Australians out inside their 50 overs and have fielded superbly all day. Now it is their turn to bat.

But there is one hope for Australia: the brilliant Shane Warne. The pitch is considered the equivalent of a seventh-day Test wicket. Normally only three or four days are needed to produce a turning Test match pitch, sometimes even fewer.

Shane Warne is about to be let loose on a seven-day-old wicket. Will he be the difference? Or will the accuracy of Glenn McGrath, Damien Fleming and Paul Reiffel do the job for the Aussies?

Time will tell.

The first 12 overs go smoothly for South Africa. The pitch offers nothing for the Aussie ‘quicks’ and the South African openers are looking comfortable. Gibbs and Kirsten score freely and race the score along to 48. They are not far from taking their side to a quarter of the required total—and, importantly, South Africa have 10 wickets in hand.

Enter Shane Warne. It is the 13th over of the game. His second ball is tossed up, and pitches outside off-stump. Gibbs pushes at it, probably not expecting too much spin. But spin there is. The ball bites back viciously and clips the off-stump.

This delivery, apart from securing a wicket, will almost certainly have sent a few shivers through the South African dressing room. Five
runs are added, then Warne is back for his second over. This time he doesn’t need a warm-up ball. On his first delivery, again tossed up but this time outside off-stump, Gary Kirsten launches into a big sweep. But the spinning ball finds the edge of his bat and rebounds onto his stumps.

In the space of five balls, Shane Warne has dismissed both openers, and South Africa have stumbled to 2 for 53. Another two balls later it is 3 for 53, with the South African captain, Hansie Cronje, trudging back to the pavilion, caught by Mark Waugh for a duck.

Three wickets have been taken and only five runs added. South Africa need cool heads at the wicket. But Jonty Rhodes and Daryll Cullinan have everyone on edge with their hair-raising running between wickets. No less than three times the Aussies have the chance to run out one of the batsmen. But their throws are off-target.

Shane Warne continues to bowl well and is really troubling Cullinan. Rhodes then attempts another cheeky single—a push straight to Michael Bevan at mid-off. Jonty makes his ground, but he hasn’t calculated on Michael Bevan choosing to ping the ball to the batter’s end. This time it is a direct hit and Cullinan is run out.

It is 4 for 61 and the Aussies are on top. But now comes South Africa’s best partnership of the match. The same partnership for Australia added 90 runs. Jacques Kallis and Jonty Rhodes do almost as well, putting on 84 runs as well as taking the South Africans into the last 10 overs of the game.

But they are still struggling to score quickly. It is going to be a tense finish. South Africa still have six wickets in hand as the 41st over begins.

South Africa have moved to 4 for 144. The game is evenly poised. The South Africans have some big hitters to come, but first, the Rhodes/Kallis partnership needs to be broken. And at last it is, when Michael Bevan takes a catch at deep mid-wicket from a Jonty Rhodes sweep.

Shaun Pollock comes in and knocks up some quick runs. Shane Warne’s final over is dramatic. Pollock skies the first ball out to deep mid-off, but Paul Reiffel misjudges the catch. Then Pollock belts Warne for a six and a four. The fourth ball yields a single, and on Warne’s fifth delivery, Kallis pushes a catch to captain Steve Waugh.

In the next over, South Africa lose their seventh wicket with the score
on 183 when Pollock plays over a yorker from Damien Fleming, losing his middle stump.

South Africa, still 31 runs away from victory, will be confident while Lance Klusener is at the wicket.

The final overs are likely to be dramatic…

The pressure is building with every ball. In the 49th over (the second last) Glenn McGrath bowls Boucher with his second ball. But Klusener is hitting cleanly, maybe too cleanly. An easy single off McGrath’s fourth delivery becomes an attempted two. But McGrath cleverly pads Reiffel’s strong throw onto the stumps—7 for 196 has become 9 for 198. A single off the last ball means that Klusener has the strike for the last over. Damien Fleming is the bowler.

South Africa need nine runs to win.

Klusener smashes the first ball through the covers for a four.

Five balls left, five runs to win.

Another yorker-length ball, angled in at the batsman, is again clubbed by Klusener—an amazing shot—out through mid-off, for another four.

Four balls left, one run to win. The scores are tied. Steve Waugh brings the fielders in. Fleming changes his angle and comes in over the wicket. Again Lance Klusener belts the ball, but this time it goes straight to a fielder.

At the bowler’s end, Allan Donald has backed up a long way. Darren Lehmann picks up the ball and hurls it at the stumps. It misses. Had he hit, the video suggests that Donald would have been run out.

Three balls left, one run to win.

Another whack from Klusener, this time to mid-off. He charges down the wicket for a single. Donald has his back turned, watching the ball. The fielder throws the ball to Fleming at the bowler’s end; Fleming then underarms it quickly but safely down to the keeper. By now Allan Donald has set off. But not soon enough. Adam Gilchrist takes off the bails and Donald is run out.

An amazing game finishes in a tie. Australia goes on to the final only because it has defeated South Africa in an earlier stage of the tournament.

In the final, Australia defeats Pakistan comfortably.

1999 World Cup Scorecard

World Cup Semi-final

17 June 1999, Edgbaston, England Toss: South

Africa • Decision: Send Australia into bat • Result: Tie