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Tuesday 3 February 2015

Australia vs New Zealand 1996 World Cup Quarter Final

Defining Moments of #ICCWorldCup

Aus v NZ , 1996, Quarterfinal (Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai)

Traditional rivals and battle of the Trans Tasmanians.

In the sweltering heat of Chennai, the two teams clashed for a place in the semifinals against the West Indies. Australia were the clear favorites to go through to the next round. But the Kiwis had different ideas. 

From a shaky start, the Kiwis plundered the Aussie attack to all parts of the park  through captain #LeeGermon and #ChrisHarris (who played the innings of his international career that day). They crossed the 200 mark undr 35 overs and it looked like they would easily cross 300.

Thats when Germon holed out in the deep, Harris followed suit and the innings derailed. In the end, NZ scored 288 in their stipulated 50 overs. A challenging score nonetheless.

In reply, the Aussies started very cautiously trying to hold wickets but lost Taylor in the process.
#RickyPonting and #MarkWaugh progressed steadily to 80 before Ponting was caught the deep in the 20th over. This meant the required scoring rate had gone very high (around 7 runs for per over!)

This is when Australia threw their first dice.
#ShaneWarne promoted up the order as a pinch hitter to get the momentum going.
And he did just that. He scored 26 rapid fire runs and got the innings going again before getting out to #DionNash. Yet, Australia were far from safety and looking down the barrel.

In walked the other twin, #SteveWaugh. He along with Mark staged an unbelievable come back in the game. Steve at his dogged best and Mark at his fluidic best launched into the Kiwi bowling. A lot of evening dew didn't help the Kiwis either. Am sure they rued scoring atleast 30 runs less on that track and the position they were in!   

Mark Waugh completed a wonderful century (110) to sniff  out the Kiwi challenge. One of the best one day knocks chasing a big total! StuartLaw and Steve completed the formalities and Australia chased down the score with an over to spare!

Turning points:
 - Lee Germon's wicket in the Kiwi innings derailed their progress
 - Shane Warne's counter attacking innings got Australia much needed momentum
 - Mark Waugh took the cake by producing one the best one day knocks of all time!

Full highlights of the game here...




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