2. Jacques Kallis- 48 from 63 against Australia in 2007 World Cup:
With Australia in devastating form in the 2007 World Cup, very few teams had managed to challenge their supremacy before South Africa gave the defending champions a mighty scare which ultimately fizzled out due to Jacques Kallis’ surprising knock.
After Matthew Hayden’s century had powered the team from Down Under to a mammoth 377, South Africa openers Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers fired on all cylinders to bring back the memories of the match when the Proteas had chased down 434. Smith and de Villiers had added 160 runs off only 20 overs before the latter departed. However, the match firmly tilted in Australia’s favor when South Africa’s number three Kallis failed to play according to the situation.
With his team needing more than seven runs per over, Kallis managed 48 off 63 balls as South Africa eventually lost the game by 83 runs.