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Schopenhauer it was who said, ``Against stupidity the gods battle in vain.'' When Hansie Cronje won the toss and opted to field pundits and bookies alike were left biting their nails. Few sides had successfully chased runs batting second. Was Cronje in control of his senses? Remember, this was the point of no return. Was it the time to gamble? The South Africans are probably the dullest clients in any casino, predictable as they have always been when it came to risks. Ergo, they had a plan in mind.

The plan was put together with a certain degree of elan. Mark Waugh was dismissed even before the Headingley crowd had even settled down. The Australians realised, even at that early stage of the match, that they had a match on their hands. There was more than a faint tinge of deja vu as the Aussies found themselves struggling for runs. 58 for three with more overs gone than planned, meant that the South Africans were well on the way towards vindicating their decision to field.

It was left initially to Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting, who blazed their way to a quick cameo partnership. The Aussies were not taking this South African ploy lying down. Ponting carried on shooting from the hip after Gilchrist was tamed. Suddenly, Steve Waugh found himself in familiar terrain, rocky and hard and fraught with danger. Herschelle Gibbs and his compatriots were not inclined to drop any in this match. The fielding as usual was above par. Runs dried up in the middle overs completely, the Aussies being more intent to consolidate and prolong their partnerships.

Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock mesmerised the opposition with four and five wickets apiece, but could not deny Steve Waugh from piling up another fifty, in his inimitable impassive manner. The captain never flinched and held the South Africans at bay for an inordinate period of time. The breathing time that Australia got as a result, enabled Michael Bevan to purchase 65 of the most priceless runs he was ever likely to get, from this hyped up bowling attack. Australia managed to get past 200, but that was never likely to pose a threat, or was it?

South Africa got off to a flyer, and it appeared that the Australian bowling was not adequate enough to stop the bleeding, the runs were coming so freely at the time. Time for drastic action. Enter Shane Warne into the fray, and the match was never the same again. Warne is a man for the big occasion; he had been out of sorts in this competition, but here was the maestro, the virtuoso performer, the sorcerer and the conjurer, all rolled into one. Three wickets in as many overs meant that Warne had ripped the innards out of the South African batting order. The team that was fairly coasting along, suddenly needed to reappraise the situation. The run rate which was until then comfortably within reach, now acquired daunting proportions.

It needed a high quality partnership between Kallis and Rhodes to pull their side back into the game. But time was fast running out. The unequal battle between the temporal and the material, meant that this pair needed to do something out of the ordinary. Rhodes made his move first, he was caught in the open spaces and the Australians scented the prey again, just when it looked it had sped away from them. The overs raced away, the runs came at a trickle, and what was worse, the wickets kept falling. Kallis had his finger in the dyke for as long as he could, but even he could not prevent the sudden onrush of adrenaline from the Aussies. All the while Steve Waugh, coolly and calmly kept on chewing gum.

Mind won over matter, as he made every bowling change count. Leadership of the highest order ensured the Aussies did not panic, even when Lance Klusener strode to the crease and laid bat to every ball he faced. He scored 31 off 16 deliveries and brought time to a standstill by tying the scores with still four balls remaining. In one of the classic flick-knife ironies of the game, Allan Donald, who should have been one of the heroes of the match had South Africa got the single most important run in the history of their game, emerged tragicomically as the villain. With the scores tied, he survived one run out chance, then failed to reach the other end where lay all the pots and pans of the rainbow. The dream remained as elusive as ever; South Africa were, again, so near, yet remained as far as when they started this competition.

The match itself rose to heights hitherto unseen in this World Cup. Australia vindicated itself after a hesitant start. They gathered momentum all the way and at Headingley swept away all pretensions of a worthy opponent, but who were still, nevertheless, pretenders to a status that is not easily awarded. The Australians had earned their position as the best team in the world the hard way; they were not ready to hand it over. Once again, the South Africans reran the 1996 campaign, where they collapsed just when they were ready to reach for the stars. Here, they had planned and plotted, almost successfully, but perhaps not quite taking into consideration that innovations and ingenuity on the field are still the life blood of this game. The Australians proved once again to whoever wished to listen, that cricket, glorious cricket, is what they specialise in. Anytime, any place, where Australians may be found playing.