Top 5 ODI matches between South Africa and Australia

#4 Australia tour of South Africa, 6th ODI: South Africa v Australia at Port Elizabeth, Apr 6, 2002

Ricky Ponting was at his very best

In what turned out to be an incredibly one-sided series, Australia did not seem to put a foot wrong as they won 4 out of the first 5 matches played between the two sides. Coming into the 6^th ODI, South Africa were looking to salvage some pride and defeat the mighty Australians.

After opting to bat first, South Africa went on to post a massive total of 326 with the loss of only 3 wickets. All their 5 batsmen, namely Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje, Jacques Kallis and Jonty Rhodes provided useful contributions with the bat. After a composed 103 ball 84 by Smith, Kallis and Rhodes provided the final surge as they smashed the Australian bowlers all around the park. The duo put up a partnership of 131 runs in just 92 balls.

Australia had an improbable target of 330 to chase down in 50 overs. Back in 2002, chasing down a target of 300 plus was considered the equivalent of chasing down, say a 380 plus score in today’s cricketing world. Australia were to break the record of the highest run chase ever back then if they were to chase down the total posed by the Proteas.

As the 2nd innings began, Adam Gilchrist made a stern statement as he smashed the very first ball off Shaun Pollock for a huge six. There was no turning back for the Kangaroos since then as they chased down the target with 5 balls to spare, and with 3 wickets remaining. After Gilchrist’s quickfire half-century, the innings was orchestrated by a 183 run stand between Ricky Ponting and Darren Lehmann.

Result: Australia 330 for 7 (Ponting 92, Lehmann 91, Gilchrist 52) beat South Africa 326 for 3 (Smith 84, Kallis 80*) by 3 wickets