The World Cup has been one of cricket’s most coveted trophies since it’s induction in 1975. It has been every modern cricketer’s dream to lift this trophy alongside their national side. The biggest stage of ODI cricket has also gifted us many prized cricketing moments, be it individual brilliance, or commendable displays of team spirit. There have been many matches in the world cup, where fans had their hearts in their mouths, and heartbeats shooting over the roof. A small disclaimer; matches played before 2003 world cup may not feature unless it has been an extremely monumental match. Here is a list of my top 5 nail-biting finishes in World Cups.
Honourable Mention: Ireland vs England, March 22, 2011 World Cup
This amazing match played out during the 2011 World Cup held in India, deserves a special mention. The Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore has played host to many swashbuckling innings, high-scoring matches and nail-biting finishes. This match had all of that. Tournament favourites England won the toss against underdogs Ireland, and elected to bat first. They managed to post a sizeable total of 327/8 (which was considered huge at the time), on the back of brilliant innings by Jonathan Trott (92 off 92), Ian Bell (81 off 86) and Kevin Pietersen (59 off 50). In, Ireland lost their captain, William Potterfield, for a golden duck in the very first ball of the innings. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals, and found themselves in a pitiful state at 113-5 at the halfway stage of the game (215 runs required from 150 balls). What followed was something nobody could have imagined. Kevin O’Brien managed to smack England out of the game, scoring 113 off just 63 deliveries, breaking the record for fastest World Cup century. He was involved in a match-saving stand of 167 with Alex Cusack. Interestingly, Cusack only contributed 47 out of the 167 runs scored in that partnership! The chase then primarily became about Kevin O’Brien’s exploits with the bat. They took Ireland from 11/5 to 273/6. The match heavily tilted in Ireland’s favour since then, despite Cusack’s dismissal in the 41st over. All was going the way of the Irishmen, up until the 48th over, where O’Brien ran himself out, still 11 runs away from the target. The equation read 11 to win off 11 balls, at O’Brien’s departure, the game very much winnable for any of the teams. The new man Trent Johnson hit a 4 of the very next ball, relieving some pressure off Ireland. They managed to hold their nerve and win this encounter, shattering the record for highest World Cup chase. The match will primarily be remembered not just for Kevin O’Brien’s mind-numbing exploits, but for the Irish team’s determination not to bow down to the underdogs tag. This unexpected victory also meant that the Group B qualification chances were smashed open. A truly nail-biting finish indeed!
5) Sri Lanka vs England, April 4, 2007 World Cup
The first entry on this list is one of the Super 8 matches played during the 2007 World Cup hosted by West Indies. Sri Lanka took on England in this match, held in North Sound, Antigua. England needed the win to ensure that their qualification hopes aren’t dented severely. Winning the toss, they decided to put their opposition to bat first. Sri Lanka’s batting line-up, that boasted mighty names like Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, and Tillakaratne Dilshan, fell like a house of cards, losing wickets at regular intervals. The 3rd wicket partnership of 91 between Upul Tharanga (62 off 103) and Mahela Jayawardena (56 off 61) was the only positive highlight for Sri Lanka in their first innings. Sajid Mahmood (4-50 in 9 overs) and Andrew Flintoff (3-35 in 10 overs) bundled Sri Lanka out for 235 in their allotted 50 overs. This looked like a comfortable chase for the Englishmen, and although they lost 2 wickets with just 11 runs on board, the partnership between Ian Bell (47 off 71) and Kevin Pietersen (58 off 80) steadied the ship for them. But after Bell’s dismissal, wickets kept falling at regular occasions and found themselves reeling at 133/6, still requiring 103 runs off 105 deliveries. They required somebody to build a batting stand to see them to victory, and they got just that from Ravi Bopara (52 off 53) and Paul Nixon (42 off 44) the duo added 87 runs for the 6th wicket, taking the chase right down to the wire. England needed 19 off the last 2 overs of the game, when a brilliant penultimate over from Lasith Malinga Bought Sri Lanka right back into the game. Conceding only 7 runs, he also managed to pick up the important wicket of Nixon. As Dilhara Fernando stepped up to bowl the last over, England were left needing 12 to win off the last over. Sajid Mahmood, the batsman on strike, did the logical thing and took a single off the first ball to bring Bopara back on strike. A four off the next ball meant that the equation was reduced to 7 off 4. Some tight bowling from Fernando ensured that Bopara was left needing 3 runs off the final delivery, to ensure victory for his side. The next ball saw the end of both Bopara’s innings, and England’s hopes of winning the match. Fernando bowled a perfect wicket-to-wicket delivery to send the bails, and the Sri Lankan fans, flying. What an encounter that was! It had us all captivated right till the final ball!
4) West Indies vs New Zealand, June 22, 2019 World Cup
New Zealand had started off the tournament with a bang, walking into the 29th match of the 2019 World Cup as table-toppers. West Indies, on the other hand, were struggling, barely hanging on to their qualification hopes with 3 losses and 1 N/R in the 5 matches they had played. Everyone had almost written off West Indies’ chances even before the match began. New Zealand were put into bat first at Manchester by the Windies captain Jason Holder, who couldn’t have wished for a better start, with Sheldon Cottrell dismissing both Kiwi Openers within the first over of play. But Kane Williamson, the Kiwi skipper, managed to play a brilliant innings, notching 148 runs off 154 balls to propel his side to a fighting total of 291/8. In the 2nd innings, West Indies found themselves in a spot to bother, with both Shai Hope (1) and Nicolas Pooran (1) being sent back early in the innings. But Chris Gayle (87) and Shimron Hetmyer (54) stitched a good partnership to steer the game in the direction of the Windies. But both threw their wickets away in quick succession, and the team lost 5 wickets for just 22 runs since Hetmyer’s dismissal. The game, and the tournament, was all but lost for West Indies. Nobody gave them even a fighting chance to win this encounter. Up stepped Carlos Brathwaite (remember the name?). Single-handedly assuming responsibility of the chase, he stepped up, with only the batting tail for support, and began hitting the ball to all corners of the cricket field. Building a partnership, first with Kemar Roach and then with Sheldon Cottrell, Brathwaite went on hit, what will go down as, one of the best centuries to be scored under pressure in a World Cup game (101 off 82). He patiently batted with the tail and kept the scoreboard ticking. He took a special liking to Matt Henry, off whom he smashed 25 runs in the 48th over. Before the last ball of the 49th over was bowled, the equation read 6 to win off 7 balls with only one wicket in hand. Brathwaite had to either go for the win with a big heave, or take a single and retain strike, as the batsman at the other end was a No.11. Brathwaite chose option 1, and for a moment, it looked like he had managed to pull off a stunning chase. But a brilliant catch by Trent Boult at the edge of the boundary rope meant that the Kiwis snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Kane Williamson walked away with the Man of the Match trophy, but Brathwaite and the Windies managed to win a lot of hearts over with their pure cricketing spirit.
3) South Africa vs New Zealand, 24 March, 2015 World Cup
This semi-final encounter played out in Auckland makes it to No.3 in our list. South Africa, looking to break their streak of choking in important matches, faced hosts New Zealand, who hadn’t qualified to a World Cup final before. Winning the toss, the Proteas elected to bat first, and scored an amazing 281/5 in 43 overs, in this rain-affected encounter. Top performances from Faf du Plessis (82 off 107), captain AB de Villiers (64 off 45) and a late blitz from David Miller (49 off 18) pushed them to a big total. Duckworth-Lewis calculations showed that the Kiwis required 298 runs in 43 overs to reach the final. New Zealand, riding on a ferocious assault by Brendon McCullum (59 off 26), were pushed into a position of authority by a stand of 103 between Grant Elliott and Corey Anderson (58 off 57), who played another composed innings. All was going their way, until Corey Anderson was dismissed, and Luke Ronchi followed him 3 overs later. A dismal performance on the field from South Africa gave Elliott and New Zealand a fighting chance. Dropped catches, collisions, missed run-outs, the match had it all. The most crucial mistake came in the last ball of he penultimate over, when Elliott skied the ball, and Farhan Behardien collided with J.P Duminy, and dropped the catch. Elliott, playing for his adopted country (and against his native country!), bought it down to 12 required of the last over, bowled by the ferocious Dale Steyn. A bye was scampered to the keeper off the first ball of the last, but then Elliott lost the strike again. Wait, though. Steyn was limping with what appeared a calf injury. He had treatment and charged in. Vettori squeezed a boundary behind square on off. Then another bye as New Zealand showed great awareness, before Elliott’s final, crowning, moment to put an indelible seal on an extraordinary home campaign for the co-hosts. A tie would also have sufficed, as New Zealand had finished higher than their opponents in the pool table. However, Grant Elliott, the superman, hoisted the ball into the stands to guide his side to victory. Another semi-final that ends in heartbreak for South Africa, and another loss to cement the “chokers” tag. New Zealand, meanwhile, advance to the final of the tournament, and eventually lose to co-hosts Australia. The scintillating game of cricket has since become folklore in New Zealand’s cricketing history, and a source of never-ending agony for the Proteas fans. This was neither South Africa’s first thriller in the knock-out stages, not was it New Zealand’s last! (More on both later…) A truly amazing game, played by 2 amazing cricket teams.
2) England vs New Zealand, 14 July, 2019 World Cup
Ah, New Zealand. They somehow always seem to land themselves in some kind of trouble with these kind of matches. Having lost the 2015 World Cup final, this was their chance to clinch the all-important World Cup trophy under (arguably) their best limited-overs captain yet, Kane Williamson. England, the pioneers of the game, had the misfortune of being one of the few full-fledged cricketing nations not to lift the trophy. The 2019 World Cup final saw 2 teams, who hadn’t yet lifted the trophy, face each other. The match held at Lord’s, the home of cricket, was expected to be a good one, but nobody would have thought to imagine the thoroughly astonishing turn of events that transpired. New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first. They posted an average total of 241/8, courtesy of Henry Nicholls (55 off 77) and Tom Latham (47 off 56). For the top-ranked ODI team with the best-performing batting side of the tournament, this looked like it was their’s to win. But fate had other things in mind. Defending a low score, the Kiwi bowlers played superbly, reducing England to 86/4 in 24 overs. The team needed a solid partnership to get back in the game, and they found that in Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler. They put up a century stand for the 5th wicket to keep the hopes of his countrymen alive. But when Buttler was dismissed, with the target now 46 to win off the last 5 overs, it was looking like New Zealand’s game to lose. But Stokes, who went on to make 84* off 98 balls, didn’t give up. Like he has done quite a lot for his team, he took the game till the final over, leaving them 15 runs to get from the last 6 balls. Two dot balls later, Stokes manages to hit one for 6. Real drama unfolded in the next ball: Stokes drove the ball into mid-wicket. Guptill fielded the ball and threw it back to the striker’s end as Stokes was returning to complete a second run; however, as Stokes dived for the crease, the ball deflected off his bat and to the boundary behind the wicket, resulting in four runs being added to the two that Stokes had run. Technically, England were awarded a run more than what they should have been given, but that’s what this game was about, “the barest of margins” (credit: Ian Smith). The game ended in a draw, and the match went to super over. England, batting first, got to 15 runs in their over, giving New Zealand a target of 16. Guptill and Nicholls walked out to try and achieve the same. A wayward over from Archer and the Kiwis were left needing just 2 runs off he final delivery to win the match. As England has more boundary count, they would win the match if it were a tie. So New Zealand had to gun for the win no matter what. Guptill hit the ball to deep mid-wicket and tried to scamper back for the winning run, but Roy’s throw in to Buttler was a good one, and Guptill was run out well short of his crease. England won the game, delivering a major scare in the process! This was the best World Cup final, and arguably one of the best matches ever played out in cricketing history, with the only thing seperating the two teams being the boundary count! New Zealand walk home with everyone applauding their efforts, and England lift the trophy they have had their eyes on for ages. What a day for cricket!
1) South Africa vs Australia, 17 June, 1999 World Cup
To beat a Super Over World Cup Final to the top spot on this list, you have to have a special level of drama involved in the match, and there is no better story than that of this two-part saga, and the nail-biting finish than it resulted in. South Africa faced Australia in the 2nd semi-final of the 1999 World Cup held in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Before we go into the details of this match, we have to explore another aspect of this rivalry, one that held a lot of significance to the final outcome of the match. When these two teams faced off in their group stage match, Australia emerges victorious, by the slightest of margins (again!). Chasing a total of 271/8 (made on the back of a brilliant century by Herschelle Gibbs), Australia lost wickets at regular intervals, until captain Steve Waugh steadied the ship. Drama ensued, when Waugh was dropped by Gibbs at short-mid wicket, while attempting to throw the ball in the air to celebrate (Waugh was reported to have famously said to Gibbs “You’ve just dropped the World Cup”. Waugh denied saying this, but the quote has lived on in cricketing folklore). Waugh went on to score a match-winning 120*, with Australia winning by 5 wickets with 2 balls to spare. Fast-forward to the semi-final, and these 2 cricket giants find themselves pit against each other again. Australia posted an average total of 213, with Steve Waugh (again!) and Michael Bevan making important half-centuries. Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald ripped through the batting line-up, taking 9 wickets between them. In reply, South Africa got off to a good start, because of the opening partnership between Gibbs and Gary Kirsten. But soon, they found themselves reeling at 61/4. Jonty Rhodes and Jacques Kallis then put together a strong 5th wicket stand, taking them within 40 runs of a spot in the World Cup Final. They were also helped on their way by Mark Boucher and Pollock,accompanied by some big-hitting miracle from Lance Klusener. Needing 9 runs from the last over, Klusener hit consecutive boundaries to tie the game, with the Proteas needing just one run off the remaining 4 balls. Nobody would have predicted the sheer ridiculous turn of events that unfolded over the next 2 balls. The third ball of the over saw Klusener mis-hit his shot to Darren Lehmann, who was standing at mid-on. Allan Donald was backing up a long way at the non-striker’s end, and if Lehmann’s close range throw at the stumps had hit, Donald would have been easily run out. Mike Proctor, the commentator, remarked “that could be the difference between a World Cup final or nothing”. The 4th ball unfolded in an almost similar fashion. Klusener, again mis-hitting the ball, began darting to complete the single, while Donald at the other end was caught ball-watching, ignoring his partner’s call. The run-out was completed, with the scores still level. The tie meant that the team that won the group-stage encounter progressed to the final, implying that Australia had won the game. South Africa’s tag of “chokers” strengthened because of this atrocious mix of foolhardiness and bad luck, and that tag has yet to leave them (read No. 3). Overall, this made for spectacular cricketing drama, the likes of which we haven’t seen yet.
Well, there we have it. Nail-biting finishes that always ends in massive heartbreak for the loser and elation and relief for the victors. Such games adds fuel to the cricketing flame across the world. Here’s hoping that we get to see many more of these fantastic games in all the upcoming World Cups.
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